Alumni Reunion 2009
The U.S. Safety Net in Recession
Cathy Johnson, Chair and Professor of Political Science and the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Faculty Fellow in Democratic Studies.
Over the last three decades changes have occurred in the social welfare programs of the United States. Many of these were intended to encourage and reward paid employment. Johnson considers how these programs are faring in a time when unemployment is rising and jobs are disappearing.
Johnson received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She has taught at Williams since 1991, offering courses such as Power, Politics, and Democracy in America; Poverty in America; and Politics of Family Policy. She has authored two books: Creating Gender: The Sexual Politics of Welfare Policy (with Duerst-Lahti and Norton, 2007) and The Dynamics of Conflict between Bureaucrats and Legislators (1992). Her recent work has dealt with welfare reform and social policy, particularly concerning the way in which children are characterized and involved in legislative debates.
Williams Alumni website
|
|
Return to Williams Multimedia
