The Dialectics of Privatization And Advocacy in New York City's Workfare State
Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. Between 1995 and 1998, New York City's workfare programs, which require welfare recipients to work as a condition of receiving benefits, underwent a fourfold expansion, while welfare rolls were reduced by almost 50 percent. Work...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2006
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| In: |
Social justice
Year: 2006, Volume: 33, Issue: 3, Pages: 158-174 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. Between 1995 and 1998, New York City's workfare programs, which require welfare recipients to work as a condition of receiving benefits, underwent a fourfold expansion, while welfare rolls were reduced by almost 50 percent. Workfare assignments under the Work Experience Program (WEP) created huge disincentives to remain on welfare and created more opportunities for the state to sanction or cut off welfare recipients' payments. The sharp decline in welfare rolls was also accomplished through stricter eligibility procedures and hassle" designed to get applicants to give up their efforts to sign up for relief. The writer discusses the dynamics by which the changes in welfare were introduced; the creation of an organized opposition to workfare; and the development of a discourse among the opposition that drew attention to WEP's shortcomings. |
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