The Welfare Assembly Line: Public Servants in the Suffering City

Despite claims that we live in a "post-welfare society," welfare offices remain vital not only for those who depend on them for benefits but also for those who depend on them for a paycheck. This book, a theory-driven case study of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, examines how welfare work has transformed to allow a department of just 14,000 to serve more than a third of the county.

Josh Seim argues that frontline workers at this agency—who are mostly Black and B...