Poverty as Public Policy

Catalog description

Is poverty something that capitalism produces or the fuel on which it runs? This course analyzes the historical underpinnings to the creation and evolution of welfare policy with special attention paid to the ways gender, race, and class oppression have shaped welfare in the past and today. Wage differentials, occupational segregation, unpaid work, and gendered and racial violence are discussed in relation to the construction of poverty. Current welfare policy will be analyzed and suggestions for reform based on current research will be developed by the class. Offered Alternate Years.