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 S...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Oakland, California :
University of California Press,
[2026]
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| Summary: | "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 over a third of the county. Josh Seim argues that frontline workers at this agency - who are mostly Black and Brown women - have become increasingly proletarianized. Their work is defined less by their discretion and more by a lack of control over the productive process. This is enabled by a 'welfare assembly line,' where high divisions of labor and heavy uses of machinery resemble production regimes in factories and fast-food restaurants. With implications beyond the welfare office, The Welfare Assembly Line is a crucial addition to the broader national conversation about work, social policy, and poverty governance" -- |
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| Physical Description: | xiv, 285 pages. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780520404175 (electronic bk.) 0520404173 (electronic bk.) |