The Color of Welfare

"Important....A major contribution."--Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Why Americans Don't Vote and Regulating the Poor "A sweeping and detailed account of the U.S. health insurance system's development during the 20th century. ...One Nation Uninsured is a clearly written, informative book that would be of interest to academics studying health care, politics, policy or U.S. history, and members of the lay public who want a better understanding of why the United States does not have universal health insurance. It would also be accessible to students, particularly those in advanced undergraduate courses or graduate seminars."--Social Forces "Outstanding and thought provoking."--Free Press "What distinguishes Quadagno's depiction is its forceful interjection of racial issues into the heart of welfare policy analysis. The result is a suggestive and informative reconsideration....Written in limpid, unpretentious prose, The Color of Welfare contains numerous gems of policy analysis."--American Journal of Sociology "What distinguishes Quadagno's depiction is its forceful interjection of racial issues into the heart of welfare policy analysis. The result is a suggestive and informative reconsideration....Written in limpid, unpretentious prose, The Color of Welfare contains numerous gems of policy analysis (including fresh treatments of employment, housing, and day care policy and, best of all, of President Mixon's ill-fated Family Assistance Plan [FAP])."--American Journal of Sociology "Quadagno demonstrates convincingly that race, class, and gender are essential analytical categories for those who hope to understand the nation's past and to design public hope to understand the nation's past and to design public policies for its future. [A] timely, well-researched study."--Booklist "This important book provides a lucid and perceptive analysis of the War on Poverty and the turbulent race politics which surrounded and ultimately engulfed it. More than that, by placing racial inequality at the very center of her analysis, Jill Quadagno makes a major contribution to our understanding of the distinctive development of the American welfare state."--Frances Fox Piven, co-author of Why Americans Don't Vote and Regulating the Poor "A leading authority on the American welfare state, Jill Quadagno makes a compelling case for her thesis that racism has done more than any other fact to limit generous and dignified public social provision in the United States. Scholars, students, and policy-makers all have much to learn from this important book."--Theda Skocpol, author of Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States "A telling analysis of race as the key faultline of American social policy."--Joel Blau, author of The Visible Poor: Homelessness in the U.S. "The graceful prose of Jill Quadagno's new book conceals a hard-hitting argument about the critical importance of racism in shaping the American welfare state. Based on exhaustive research in primary sources, she tells a story which has not been told before. Even child care programs, not to mention family assistance, job training, and housing programs have been decisively shaped by the politics of race. Theoretically, her argument challenges the claim that America's 'liberal values' have been a main barrier to the expansion of the American welfare state."--Robert R. Alford, author of Health Care Politics "A sweeping and detailed account of the U.S. health insurance system's development during the 20th century. ...One Nation Uninsured is a clearly written, informative book that would be of interest to academics studying health care, politics, policy or U.S. history, and members of the lay public who want a better understanding of why the United States does not have universal health insurance. It would also be accessible to students, particularly those in advanced undergraduate courses or graduate seminars."--Social Forces