“The dream of a benevolent welfare state may live on in social work theory, conference papers and mission statements, but as far as front-line bureaucracy goes, welfare is dead.” This is the opening line to the recent article “Discipline and punish: Welfare, workfare, and the punishment of the poor”, written by Aleksandra McHugh. It appeared in the November and December edition of Briarpatch (BRY-ar patch) magazine. Aleksandra is a writer and editor of the Regina-based magazine “Utilitarian Donuts”. Peter from Worm’s-Eye View caught up with Aleksandra by phone from Regina. He began by asking her to describe what welfare looked like at its strongest in Canadian history. Her article can be read here: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/2010/11/02/discipline-and-punish-welfare-w... This interview was first broadcast on Worm's-Eye View: Grassroots News, on CJSF 90.1 FM. Worm's-Eye View brings alternative, community-oriented social justice programming to the Lower Mainland of BC. We are an open-volunteer space for student and community journalists to learn and grow.
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Comments
Thank you for posting this
The whole thing is just sick. Is it not bad enough to be down on your luck? Do you need the added humiliation as well?