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Inspired by the political and philosophical interventions of feminist women of color and Foucauldian social theory, Anna Marie Smith explores the scope and structure of the child support enforcement, family cap, marriage promotion, and abstinence education measures that are embedded within contemporary United States welfare policy. Presenting original legal research and drawing from historical sources, social theory, and normative frameworks, the author argues that these measures violate the rights of poor mothers. The author shows that welfare policy has consistently constructed the sexual conduct of the racialized poor mother as one of its primary disciplinary targets. The book concludes with a vigorous and detailed critique of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's support for welfare reform law and an outline of a progressive feminist approach to poverty policy.
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This page intentionally left blank Welfare Reform and Sexual Regulation When Americans think about welfare reform, they generally refer to its ‘‘workfare’’ requirements and strict time limits. Anna Marie Smith argues, however, that the sexual regulation dimensions of welfare reform are also significant. Inspired by the political and philosophical interventions of feminist women of color and Foucauldian social theory, she explores the scope and structure of the child support enforcement, family cap, marriage promotion, and abstinence education measures that are embedded within contemporary welfare policy. Presenting original legal research on both federal and state law and drawing from historical sources, social theory, and normative frameworks, she makes the case that these measures seriously violate the rights of poor mothers. She also shows that welfare reform’s intervention in the kinship structure and intimate behavior of the poor has several historical precedents. In particular, welfare policy has consistently constructed the sexual conduct of the racialized poor mother as one of its primary disciplinary targets. At the same time, Smith pays close attention to the political and institutional specificity of sexual regulation in the context of welfare law. She concludes with a vigorous and detailed critique of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s support for welfare reform law and an outline of a progressive feminist approach to poverty policy. Anna Marie Smith is a professor of government at Cornell University. She is the author of New Right Discourse on Race and Sexuality: Britain, 1968–1990 (Cambridge, 1994), and Laclau and Mouffe: The Radical Democratic Imaginary (1998). She has also written numerous articles published in New Formations, Feminist Review, Diacritics, Radical Philosophy, Social Text, Constellations, and Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, and she is the author of chapters published in numerous cultural studies and social and political theory anthologies. Welfare Reform and Sexual Regulation ANNA MARIE SMITH Cornell University CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521820950 © Anna Marie Smith 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2007 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-511-29517-1 ISBN-10 0-511-29517-0 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 ISBN-10 hardback 978-0-521-82095-0 hardback 0-521-82095-2 ISBN-13 ISBN-10 paperback 978-0-521-52784-2 paperback 0-521-52784-8 Cambridge University P