Politics of Social Welfare in America

The Politics of Social Welfare in America examines how politicians, theorists and citizens discuss need, welfare and disability with respect to theoretical and political projects. Glenn David Mackin argues that participants in these discussions often miss the way their perceptions of those in need shape their discourse. Professor Mackin also explores disability rights groups and welfare rights activism in the 1960s and 1970s to examine the ways that those designated as needy or incompetent often challenge these designations, thus making the issue of welfare an ongoing conflict over who counts as competent and generating new ways of understanding democracy and equality.

'Mackin examines the ways in which contemporary American discourses about 'welfare' (or more precisely, means-tested social assistance) interpret welfare recipients as unable to participate as full citizens in public life … Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.' J. D. Moon, Choice

Glenn David Mackin is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. Professor Mackin has had articles published in Studies in Law, Politics, and Society; Contemporary Political Theory; and the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. He also serves as a book reviewer in political theory for Choice.