Feminists And State Welfare Rle Feminist Theory

Designed for students of social policy and women’s studies, this text gives a readable account of the wide range of feminist ideas about women and welfare. The authors draw on feminist theory, research and analysis to explore women’s experiences of welfare, and the debates within feminism on how and why the welfare state oppresses women. In an original contribution they discuss women’s impact on the development of the welfare state both as feminist campaigners and as pioneers of new welfare professions. The book concludes by reviewing contemporary feminist strategies to transform the welfare state to meet women’s needs. Whilst the authors put forward their own evaluation of these different feminist approaches, they aim to leave readers with plenty of scope to make up their own minds on the issues.

The social welfare state has come under increasing pressure, raising serious doubts about its survival. This book represents an interdisciplinary, multimethodological and multicultural feminist approach ...

Subordination presents a survey of some of the most important ideas developed within feminism since the 1970s. Among the central themes addressed are: the origins of women’s subordination; the private/public split; the nature and the role of domestic labour; the impact of psychoanalysis on feminist theory; the relationship between the State and women’s subordination. One of the book’s purposes is to draw together strands of thought and debate often kept separate. Throughout, the major theoretical developments in Britain, the United States and Australia are reviewed within a comparative perspective. Consistently, the focus of attention is on how, and how far, theorists in these countries have been able to point to ways of explaining the changing but enduring nature of sexual inequalities.

Contemporary Western European Feminism is a ground-breaking history of feminism. Gisela Kaplan invites a critical analysis of current ideas, terms and assumptions about our modern world. Written confidently and with compassion, this is the story of a long revolution that has set out to change predominant attitudes and transform value hierarchies and human lifestyles. By outlining the postwar histories of individual countries Kaplan contextualises women’s movements and documents a significant chapter of European social history. She poses questions about the interrelationship between the new movements and the parliamentary democracies in which they occurred, while analysing the contradictions of living in modern capitalist countries. Contemporary Western European Feminism also tackles important contradictions, such as those between the welfare state and the free market economy; industrialisation and religious value systems; social engineering and the production of wealth; and dissent and patrimonial systems of democracy. For those wanting to know more about Europe without the intimidating barriers of language and for those already experts in its social history, Contemporary Western European Feminism is essential reading.

This book explores the development of truly feminist social work, setting out the progress to date in establishing a feminist presence in the four central areas of social work: the definition of social problems for intervention, therapy and counselling, statutory social work and community action. Showing how progress in one area fosters the others, the authors also examine why it is crucial to ensure that feminist issues inform working relations and political organisations.

We are enthusiastic about Miller's project. She supplies interesting and comprehensive analyses of six central social welfare programs (Aid to Families with Dependent Children, work training incentives, child custody and support, social welfare services for children, Social Security, and pensions). We are also sympathetic to Miller's method. She deploys feminist theory to investigate gender and the social welfare system. Moreover, Miller's attempt to highlight the gender, race, and class dynamics of the policies she examines is commendable. Readers interested in feminism and social policy will certainly want Miller's book on their library shelves. American Journal of Sociology An invaluable summary of recent developments in what Miller calls the major elements of 'the vast network of public policies and programs designed to provide goods and services' to women. Choice This volume applies a feminist theoretical perspective to an analysis of the treatment of women in the U.S. social welfare system. Using a theoretical framework that postulates a masculine world view of patriarchal necessity, Miller attempts to clarify the current status of women in welfare, work experience and training programs; the custody and care of children; and Social Security and pension programs. She identifies gender as a key variable in current debates about the future of social welfare and sheds new light on the ways in which social policies themselves often function to perpetuate women's subordination and economic insecurity. Students and scholars in the fields of social work, social policy, and women's studies will find Miller's work both enlightening and provocative. Following her introduction, Miller briefly reviews feminist theories that seek to explain the differential treatment of gender in Western society. Major government programs for poor women and children, such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, are then described and analyzed with respect to gender and the concept of patriarchal necessity. Subsequent chapters examine such issues as the Family Support Act, daycare, and the plight of older women in a patriarchal society in light of feminist theory. Miller demonstrates that even programs ostensibly created to help women or make them more independent usually have the opposite effect because they are developed and managed within a masculine-dominant culture. In her concluding chapter, Miller makes some suggestions for reform and discusses how the concept of patriarchal necessity could be used to both analyze other programs and predict the acceptability of reform legislation affecting women.

Routledge Library Editions: Feminist Theory brings together as one set, or individual volumes, a series of previously out-of-print classics from a variety of academic imprints. With titles ranging from The Liberation of Women to Feminists and State Welfare, from Married to the Job to Julia Kristeva, this set provides in one place a wealth of important reference sources from the diverse field of gender studies.

Written confidently and with compassion, this is the story of a long revolution that has set out to change predominant attitudes and transform value hierarchies and human lifestyles. By outlining the postwar histories of individual countries Kaplan contextualises women's movements and documents a significant chapter of European social history. She poses questions about the interrelationship between the new movements and the parliamentary democracies in which they occurred, while analysing the contradictions of living in modern capitalist countries. Contemporary Western European Feminism also tackles important contradictions, such as those between the welfare state and the free market economy; industrialisation and religious value systems; social engineering and the production of wealth; and dissent and patrimonial systems of democracy.