Praxis for the Poor: Piven and Cloward and the Future of Social Science in Social Welfare / Edition 1

by Sanford F. Schram

Overview

Praxis for the Poor puts the relationship of politics to scholarship front and center through an examination of the work of Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward. Piven and Cloward proved that social science could inform social-policy politics in ways that helped energize a movement. Praxis for the Poor offers a critical reflection on their work and builds upon it, demonstrating how a more politically-engaged scholarship can contribute to the struggle for social justice.
Necessary reading for political scientists, sociologists, social workers, social welfare activists, policy-makers, and anyone concerned with the plight of the poor and oppressed, Praxis for the Poor shows how social science can play a role in building a better future for social welfare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814798188
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	303
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sanford F. Schram teaches social theory and social policy in the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College where he also teaches research methods for undergraduate political science majors. He is the author of several books including Words of Welfare: The Poverty of Social Science and the Social Science of Poverty which won the Michael Harrington Award from the American Political Science Association and Welfare Discipline: Discourse, Governance, and Globalization.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
I The Theory of Practice
1 What Accessibility Can’t Do: The Politics of Welfare Scholarship
2 The Future of the Past: Jane Addams and the Social Work of Politics
3 Radical Incrementalism Personified: The Piven and Cloward Legacy
4 Which Side Are You On?
Rethinking Research and Advocacy in Social Welfare
II The Practice of Theory
5 The Old Is New: The Racial Basis of Welfare Reform
6 Putting a Black Face on Welfare: The Good and the Bad
7 Success Stories: Welfare Reform, Policy Discourse, and the Politics of Research, by Sanford F. Schram and Joe Soss
8 Compliant Subjects for a New World Order: Globalization and the Behavior Modification Regime of Welfare Reform
Appendix: Sources and Measures for Data in Chapter 5
Notes Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This wonderfully lucid, well developed volume should perhaps have been called Suggested Praxis for the Poor, since, instead of describing the current state of welfare, the author argues for a revamped praxis that would rescue our failing programs....Highly recommended."

-Library Journal,

"A significant achievement. This is a passionate critique that embodies the very politically-engaged scholarship for which it calls."

-Nancy Campbell,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"Praxis for the Poor offers a thought-provoking, even moving, challenge to progressive intellectuals. Engagingly written, it shines a bright light on issues of research, advocacy, and the doleful character of the country's system of social welfare."

-Ira Katznelson,Columbia University

"Schram poses an important challenge for those who would like to restore to political science its sometime concern with power and inequality."

-American Politics Book Review,

" I recommend reading this book, and I applaud Schram's many accomplishments while I share his long-term commitments."

-American Journal of Sociology

Editorial Reviews

"A significant achievement. This is a passionate critique that embodies the very politically-engaged scholarship for which it calls."

Nancy Campbell

"Schram poses an important challenge for those who would like to restore to political science its sometime concern with power and inequality."

American Politics Book Review

This wonderfully lucid, well developed volume should perhaps have been called Suggested Praxis for the Poor, since, instead of describing the current state of welfare, the author argues for a revamped praxis that would rescue our failing programs….Highly recommended.”

- Library Journal

” I recommend reading this book, and I applaud Schram’s many accomplishments while I share his long-term commitments.”

- American Journal of Sociology

"A significant achievement. This is a passionate critique that embodies the very politically-engaged scholarship for which it calls."

-Nancy Campbell,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

From the Publisher

This wonderfully lucid, well developed volume should perhaps have been called, ‘Suggested Praxis for the Poor,’ since, instead of describing the current state of welfare, the author argues for a revamped praxis that would rescue failing programs…Highly recommended.

Library Journal

"I recommend reading this book, and I applaud Schram’s many accomplishments while I share his long-term commitments."

American Journal of Sociology

"Praxis for the Poor offers a thought-provoking, even moving, challenge to progressive intellectuals. Engagingly written, it shines a bright light on issues of research, advocacy, and the doleful character of the country's system of social welfare."

Ira Katznelson