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Academic Year 2005/2006

Jobs, Unemployment & Social Welfare
SOC 293 SP

This course will examine the forces that shape the distribution of work and income in contemporary society. How have labor movements, immigrant groups, community activists, policy makers, and employer associations structured the labor market and influenced the socio-economic structure of everyday life? How do fiscal and monetary policies interact with the labor question? How do the "culture wars" --and the politics of race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality influence the direction of social welfare? Drawing on international and historical comparisons, and reviewing recent public policy initiatives, the course will help students assemble the theoretical and empirical basis for critical social policy analysis.

MAJOR READINGS

Frances Fox Piven & Richard Cloward, REGULATING THE POOR: THE FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC WELFARE
William Julius Wilson, WHEN WORK HAPPENS
Roger Waldinger, STILL THE PROMISED CITY?: AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND NEW IMMIGRANTS IN POSTINDUSTRIAL NEW YORK
Theresa Funiciello, TYRANNY OF KINDNESS: DISMANTLING THE WELFARE SYSTEM TO END POVERTY IN AMERICA
Martin Anderson, WELFARE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly reading journal, final paper.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: SOC151 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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