Workfare States

This book examines the political economy of workfare, the umbrella term for welfare-to-work initiatives that have been steadily gaining ground since candidate Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "end welfare as we know it." Peck traces the development, diffusion, and implementation of workfare policies in the United States, and their export to Canada and the United Kingdom. He explores how reforms have been shaped by labor markets and political conditions, how gender and race come into play, and how local programs fit into the broader context of neoliberal economics and globalization. The book cogently demonstrates that workfare rarely involves large-scale job creation, but is more concerned with deterring welfare claims and necessitating the acceptance of low-paying, unstable jobs. Integrating labor market theory, critical policy analysis, and extensive field research, Peck exposes the limitations of workfare policies and points toward more equitable alternatives. This book discusses the evolution of workfare policies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 defines the term "workfare" and examines the concepts of transnationalizing workfare and workfarist labor regulation. Chapter 2 establishes workfare's theoretical context and explores the relationship between welfare arrangements and the labor market from the days of the workhouse system through the days of the welfare state to the emergent workfare system. Chapter 3 considers the origins of workfare in the context of restructuring or "reform" of the previous welfare programs in the United States and explores the range of meanings associated with the regulatory term "workfare" within different historical and geographical contexts. The history of welfare and workfare politics in Massachusetts is traced in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 presents a critical analysis of the methodology and interpretations of Riverside, California's Greater Avenues for Independence program. Chapter 6 traces Canada's path from welfarism to workfarism, and Chapter 7 describes the United Kingdom's recent embrace of workfare. Chapter 8 begins by presenting an abstract examination of workfare and its contradictions and ends by speculating on the future course of workfare politics. (Twenty tables/figures are included. The bibliography contains 607 references.) (MN) "This book examines the political economy of workfare, the umbrella term for welfare-to-work initiatives that have been steadily gaining ground since candidate Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "end welfare as we know it." Peck traces the development, diffusion, and implementation of workfare policies in the United States, and their export to Canada and the UK. He explores how reforms have been shaped by labor markets and political conditions, how gender and race come into play, and how local programs fit into the broader context of neoliberal economics and globalization. The book cogently demonstrates that workfare rarely involves large-scale job creation, but is more concerned with deterring welfare claims and necessitating the acceptance of low-paying, unstable jobs. Integrating labor market theory, critical policy analysis, and extensive field research, Peck exposes the limitations of workfarism and points toward more equitable alternatives."--BOOK JACKET.