The Failure of the Neo-Liberal Approach to Poverty : The Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative

This excellent study makes an important contribution to our understanding of neoliberalism. It draws together and powerfully analyzes an array of market-oriented approaches, backed by governments and private actors, that have come to shape public discourse around poverty reduction. I know of no other work that so successfully offers such a distinctive account of the impact of neoliberalism, while at the same time providing a model of critical theoretical reflection." Phillip Hansen, Professor Emeritus, University of Regina, Canada. This book examines the foundation and progress of the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI). Poverty has once again become a major issue in American cities, and nowhere more so than Rochester, which has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation. RMAPI was established to reduce poverty, yet in the five years since its formation the poverty rate is essentially unchanged. Analyzing the reasons behind its failure, this book argues that the very nature of the organizational framework is part of the problem, and that RMAPIs project is caught up with contradictory imperatives of neo-liberal welfare reforms. More than just a study of local interest, the book uses Rochester as a case study to illuminate the limits of the neo-liberal approach to poverty. It will appeal to all those interested in political science, urban politics, community studies, welfare policy and public administration. Brian Caterino is an independent researcher who worked in public media. His research interests include political theory, philosophy of social inquiry, and politics and ethics Acknowledgements 5 Contents 6 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 Poverty Takes the Stage 10 Bibliography 15 Chapter 2: Critical Theory, The Welfare State, and Neo-liberalism 17 The Welfare State in Neo-liberal Times 17 The Rise of Social Rights and Questions of Recognition 23 Power: Theoretical Debates 25 Discourse Theory 27 Critical Theory and Practice: Social Diagnosis 28 The Breakdown of the Welfare State 30 Neo-Liberalism and the Welfare State 32 Transforming the Non-profit Sector 36 The Dilemma of Neo-liberal Welfare Reform 39 Bibliography 43 Chapter 3: Deindustrialization, the Welfare State and Urban Decay 47 The Deindustrial Condition 47 Poverty and Deindustrialization 51 A New Social Contract 53 Lowered Expectations and Deaths of Despair 54 Deindustrialization Hits Rochester 56 Urban Policy and Decline in the Postwar Era 58 White Flight and Poverty 59 The Great Society 61 Neo-liberal Urbanism 65 Cities as Entrepreneurs 69 From Entrepreneurialism to Financialization: Cities after 2008 77 Bibliography 81 Chapter 4: From a City of Quality to a City of Poverty 86 Race in Rochester: A Pattern of Discrimination and Neglect 86 The Legacy of George Eastman 88 A Second Wave 89 A City of Quality? 91 The Aftermath 92 The Failure of School Integration 95 Rochester Reacts to Deindustrialization 96 Entertaining Adventures 101 Floating in a Sinkhole of Debt 102 Soccer Bails 105 Eds and Meds in Rochester 107 Industrial Devlopment Authority (IDA’s) and Local Favoritism 109 Poverty Comes to the Fore 111 A New Map for Fighting Poverty 117 How Did RMAPI Operate 121 Bibliography 123 Chapter 5: Reading Poverty 129 Prelude: The Policy Environment 130 How to Read Poverty 131 Are the Poor Deficient? 133 The Family Revisited 139 Poverty and Therapeutic Intervention: Trauma as a Cause of Poverty 140 Asset Building Approaches 145 Asset Building in Practice 149 Predatory Inclusion and Formal Equality 150 Structural Racism 153 Poverty and Economic Exploitation 155 Bibliography 157 Chapter 6: Following the wrong map: From Social Enterprise to Collective Impact 160 The Slow Rollout 160 The Public and the Problems 163 What Is Collective Impact? 170 Precursors: Business Adopts Social Impact 173 A Neo-liberal Trojan Horse? 176 Private Public Partnerships 177 Critical Views of Collective Impact 179 The Problem of Implementation 181 Collective Impact as a Form of Governance 182 The Fetish of Data 184 Collective Impact and System Theory 185 What Is a System 186 System Change or Social Change? 189 The Complexity Problem 192 Bibliography 196 Chapter 7: Collective Impact in Action 200 Collective Impact and the Long Rollout 2 200 IBM and Collective Impact 202 Self-Sufficiency or Precarity 204 Developing Impact in Rochester 205 RMAPI’s Borg Problem: Who Gets Funded 206 Is It Collaboration? 207 Connected Communities and Purpose-Built Communities 208 The 2020 Report 212 RMAPI Pilot Programs: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Self 215 Conforming to Norms 220 Bibliography 223 Chapter 8: Rethinking the Map 225 Collective Impact 3.0 225 The New Focus? 229 Popular Democracy and RMAPI: contradictory impulses 231 A New Leader 236 Structural Racism Revisited 237 Wither System Integration? 239 Equal Opportunity or Expanded Social Rights? 241 Martin Luther King: Social Democrat 241 Bibliography 244 Index 246