Social Welfare Policy Analysis

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Social Welfare Policy Analysis
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NOTA BENE (TAKE HEED!)

• SLIDES 2-23 CONTAIN INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS.
• MODULE I BEGINS WITH SLIDE 24.

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• THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY
  DAVID H. KATZ, PH.D., MSU SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK.

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (1) MODULE TOPICS

• MODULE I CRITICAL THINKING
• (3 CLASS SESSIONS)
• PURPOSE
• To familiarize you with opposing perspectives on
  social reality and social welfare policy (swp)
  so as to ensure that you have the conceptual
  overview needed to analyze specific issues.
• MODULE II SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP)
• (2 CLASS SESSIONS)
• PURPOSE
• Introduction to swp origins, types, and trends,
  as well as the role of politics in the policy
  making process.
• MODULE III THE WELFARE STATE (WS)
• (2 CLASS SESSIONS)
• PURPOSE
• Emphasis on types of WSs and the impact of
  globalization. Special attention to American
  exceptionalism as a key to understanding the US
  WS.

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (2) MODULE TOPICS

• MODULE IV POVERTY/INEQUALITY
• (2 CLASS SESSIONS)
• PURPOSE
• Poverty and inequality are the bottom line
  issues for social workers because they are the
  everyday realities confronted by the professions
  traditional clientele. This module explains the
  origins and dimensions of these phenomena and
  relates both to the overall direction of the
  American political economy.
• MODULE V HEALTH
• (3 CLASS SESSIONS)
• PURPOSE
• As individuals, professionals, and citizens,
  social workers have a special interest in health
  care policy, especially now that managed care has
  transformed their own role as practitioners.

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (3) MODULE SCHEDULE

• MODULE IV POVERTY/INEQUALITY
• 6/13 19
• READINGS
• PART III 13, 16, 20, 21, 23
• MODULE V HEALTH PHYSICAL MENTAL/YOUNG
  OLD/PAST FUTURE
• READINGS PART III, 15, 16, 18.
• 6/20 26 27
• PAPER TAKE HOME FINAL
• DUE 6/27

• INTRODUCTION - 5/15
• MODULE 1 - CRITICAL THINKNG
• 5/16 22 - 23
• READINGS
• MAINSTREAM
• LIBERALISM PART II, 8-10
• CONSERVATISM PART VI, 25 PART II, 11
• RADICAL (called institutional/critical)
• PART IV, 24 PART IV, 26 (393-4/397-99
  (TOP)/402-406
• MODULE II - SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY - 5/30 6/5
• READINGS PART I, 1, 4
• MODULE III THE WELFARE STATE 6/6 12
• READINGS PART I, 2-3 PART V
• IN-CLASS MID-SEMESTER QUIZ
• 6/6

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (4) THE CUMULATIVE ANGLE

• SPECIFIC SWPS
• DETAILED SURVEY OF SOME MAJOR U.S. SWPS.
• MODULES IV/V
• THE WELFARE STATE (WS)
• THE TOTALITY OF ALL SWPS AND THEIR RELATED
  INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS WITHIN A GIVEN NATIONAL
  ENVIRONMENT.
• MODULE III
• SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP)
• INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT AND RELATED ISSUES
• TYPES AND POLITICS OF SWP
• MODULE II
• CRITICAL THINKNG
• PROVIDES THE ANALYTICAL FOUNDATION AND FRAMEWORK
• FOR ALL SPECIFIC TOPICS ADDRESSED IN THIS COURSE
• MODULE i

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (5) KEY CONCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS
OF THIS COURSE

• Theoretical
• The functions of swps within the overall host
  society. Key question Are swps mere palliatives
  or are they evidence that sustained social
  progress is possible in a competitive,
  individualistically oriented market economy?
• 2. Political
• Who are the political motives and forces
  supporting or opposing progressive swps? What are
  their motives? Why are particular policies
  enacted? Who benefits and who loses? Key
  question Which political direction---liberal,
  conservative, or ?----are future policies most
  likely to take?
• 3. Institutional
• What are the institutional contexts and mechanics
  within which policy is made. That is, what are
  the actual procedures of policy making and how
  does this process affect actual policy outcomes?
  Key question What have been the major
  institutional changes of recent years and how
  have these impacted swp legislation?
• 4. Applied
• Seeks to understand policy specifics for
  practical administrative reasons and to assess
  the ground level impact such specifics have on
  client populations. Key question What are the
  actual contents of specific swps what problems
  are encountered by those seeking to apply them in
  the field?

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (6) MID-SEMESTER QUIZ

• Purpose
• The 40 minute in-class mid-semester quiz
  (to be completed in bluebooks) will account for
  20 of your final grade. Its main purpose is to
  help acclimate you to the standards expected in
  this course. Most of you should have no problem
  meeting those standards, but for those who do,
  the quiz will alert you to the need to upgrade on
  the final exam and semester paper.
• YOU WILL CHOOSE 1 OF THE 2 FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
• Discuss why politics is so important in
  understanding social welfare policy and why one
  variety of politics---the conservative one---has
  been so dominant in shaping policy in recent
  years.
• The welfare state is being rapidly transformed
  both here and abroad. What are the main factors
  accounting for this change. Also discuss the
  likely direction the welfare state during the
  first quarter of the 21st century?

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SEMESTER OVERVIEW (7) FINAL EXAM AND FINAL PAPER

• CHOOSE 1 OF THE FOLLOWING 3 QUESTIONS FOR YOUR
  FINAL EXAM AND 1 FOR THE PAPER. EACH WILL BE
  WORTH 40 YOUR FINAL GRADE UNLESS YOU DECIDE TO
  SUBMIT ONLY ONE, WHICH WILL THEN BE WORTH 80 OF
  YOUR FINAL GRADE.
• Apply either a mainstream or radical perspective
  to one of the issues addressed in this course.
  (You can also choose an issue not covered in
  class, if you so desire.) Explain why you think
  the approach chosen does a better job than the
  alternatives in analyzing the selected issue.
• What exactly is American exceptionalism and
  how has it influenced U.S. social welfare
  policies?
• Discuss in documented detail how the contents of
  this class have affected your thinking as a
  future social worker.

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FINAL EXAM AND FINAL PAPER SPECIFICATIONS

• Both the exam and paper will be completed at
  home.
• Each should be 2x spaced, typed, and stapled or
  other- wise securely fastened.
• The paper should be no more than 10 pages in
  length the exam, no more than 8 pages.
• You may elect to submit only one of these
  assignments, but if you do, its results will
  constitute 80 of your grade.
• You cannot use the same question for both.
• Please do not ask me to discuss hypothetical
  answers to the exam or paper.

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WHAT DOES THIS GUY WANT FROM ME?

• ANSWER
• RELAX IM YOUR TEACHER, NOT YOUR PERSECUTOR
• ABOVE ALL, I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IT IS
  YOU ARE LEARNING. INDEED, IF YOU DO NOT THINK YOU
  ARE NOT LEARNING, AND IF YOU ARE NOT LEARNING,
  YOU ARE WASTING BOTH YOUR TIME AND MINE.
• LOGICALLY AND COHERENTLY COMMUNICATE WHAT YOU
  THINK ON THE EXAMS/PAPER.
• CONVINCE ME THAT YOU HAVE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT
  THE DIFFICULT ISSUES IN THIS CLASS.
• ANY QUESTIONS?

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OTHER PRELIMINARY MATTERS

(SLIDES 16-22 CAN BE
SKIMMED)
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• THIS VERSION OF SOCIAL WORK 821 IS IN STRICT
  CONFORMITY WITH THE
• CSWE GUIDELINES ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY
  EDUCATION
• NASW CODE OF ETHICS
• MSU GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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• CSWE GUIDELINES
• M6.10 SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY/SERVICES
• THE FOUNDATION SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY AND SERVICES
  CONTENT MUST INCLUDE THE HISTORY, MISSION, AND
  PHILOSOPHY OF THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION. CONTENT
  MUST BE PRESENTED ABOUT THE HISTORY AND CURRENT
  PATTERNS OF PROVISION OF SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES,
  THE ROLE OF SOCIAL POLICY IN HELPING OR DETERRING
  PEOPLE IN THE MAINTENANCE OR ATTAINMENT OF
  OPTIMAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, AND THE EFFECT OF
  POLICY ON SOCIAL WELFARE PRACTICE. STUDENTS MUST
  BE TAUGHT TO ANALYZE CURRENT SOCIAL POLICY WITHIN
  THE CONTEXT OF HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY
  FACTORS THAT SHAPE POLICY. CONTENTS MUST BE
  PRESENTED ABOUT THE POLITICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL
  PROCESSES USED TO INFLUENCE POLICY, THE PROCESS
  OF POLICY FORMULATION, AND THE FRAMEWORKS FOR
  ANALYZING SOCIAL PROCESSES IN LIGHT OF THE
  PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE.

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• CSWE GUIDELINES
• M6.7 PROMOTION OF SOCIAL/ECO. JUSTICE
• PROGRAMS OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION MUST PROVIDE AN
  UNDERSTANDING OF THE DYNAMICS AND CONSEQUENCES OF
  SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE, INCLUDING ALL
  FORMS OF HUMAN OPPRESSION AND DISCRIMINATION.
  THEY MUST PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH THE SKILLS TO
  PROMOTE SOCIAL CHANGE AND TO IMPLEMENT A WIDE
  VARIETY OF INTERVENTIONS THAT FURTHER THE
  ACHIEVEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE SOCIAL
  AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICE
  CONTENT MUST BE PROVIDED ABOUT STRATEGIES OF
  INTERVENTION FOR ACHIEVING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
  JUSTICE AND OR COMBATING THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS
  OF INSTITUTIONALIZED FORMS OF OPPRESSION.

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• NASW CODE OF ETHICS
• SOCIAL WORKERS PRIMARY GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE IN
  NEED AND TO ADDRESS SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
• SOCIAL WORKERS CHALLENGE SOCIAL INJUSTICE

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• MSU GUIDING PRINCIPLES
• PEOPLE MATTER
• ACTIVE LEARNING ACROSS
• THE MISSION

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES
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AD ASTRA ET PROJECT
RECIPIENT SPECIAL MENSCHEN AWARD AMERICAN
ACADEMY OF POWERPOINT PROJECTIONISTS
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MODULE I CRITICAL THINKING READINGS (IN
ORDER) PARTS II, 8 10 VI, 25 IIPART
II, 11 IV 24, 26 (393-4/ 397-99/402-406)

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JANE ADDAMS MEMORIAL by MITCHELL SIPORIN ILLINOIS
FEDERAL ARTS PROJECT, WORKS PROJECT
ADMINISTRATIONS (WPA), 1936
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WHY START A COURSE ON SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY (SWP)
WITH AN ART SLIDE?

• BECAUSE
• ITS BEAUTIFUL, AND BEAUTY IS ITS OWN
  JUSTIFICATION.
• JANE ADDAMS IS THE GREATEST HERO IN THE HISTORY
  OF SOCIAL WORK, AND, LIKE OTHER PEOPLE, SOCIAL
  WORKERS NEED HEROES TO INSPIRE THEM.
• THE MURAL PROVES THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONCE
  SPENT MONEY ON BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT DENOUNCED
  THE UGLY THINGS WAR, SEXISM, RACISM, AND CLASS
  OPPRESSION.
• IN POLITICAL ALLIANCE WITH OTHERS, SOCIAL WORKERS
  NEED TO REDOUBLE THE FIGHT AGAINST THOSE UGLY
  THINGS.
• LEARNING ABOUT SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY CAN HELP TO
  PREPARE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT STRUGGLE.

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WHY MODULE I IS IMPORTANT (1)

• VIRTUALLY ALL SOCIAL SCIENCE/SOCIAL POLICY
  RESEARCH IS STEEPED IN, BUT NOT NECESSARILY
  LABELED AS, EITHER MAINSTREAM OR RADICAL
  THINKING. THAT IS, SOCIAL WORK AND, MORE
  GENERALLY, SOCIAL SCIENCE ARE INHERENTLY
  POLITICAL IN NATURE, INSOFAR AS THEY INVOLVE
  POWER RELATIONSHIPS, AS INDEED DOES ALL OF HUMAN
  LIFE.
• IT IS THEREFORE ESSENTIAL THAT YOU LEARN TO
  IDENTIFY AND ASSESS THESE DIVERGENT APPROACHES
  AND DECIDE WHICH OFFERS BETTER INSIGHTS INTO THE
  COMPLEX POLICY ISSUES DEALT WITH IN THIS CLASS.
  IN OTHER WORDS, YOU MUST LEARN TO THINK
  CRITICALLY!

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WHY MODULE I IS IMPORTANT (2)

• ANOTHER WAY OF STATING THIS SAME POINT IS TO SAY
  THAT.
• IF CRITICAL THINKING IS A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING
  SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY, THEN UNDERSTANDING THE
  DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAINSTREAM
• RADICAL THINKING
• IS THE KEY TO CRITICAL
• THINKING.

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ARE YOU A MAINSTREAM OR OR A RADICAL THINKER?
LETS SEE WHICH OF THESE APPROACHES BEST
REFLECTS THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD!
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THE U.S. POLITICAL SPECTRUM

• U.S. VIEW OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM
• LEFT RIGHT
• LIBERAL
  
  CONSERVATIVE
• (New Deal/Great Society)
  (Reagan/Bush)
• THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM VIEWED FROM ABROAD
• RADICAL
  MAINSTREAM
  RIGHT
• LEFT MARXIST SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC
  LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE MONARHCHIST FASCIST
• (CRITICAL)
  (INSTITUTIONAL)
• THAT IS, VIEWED FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S., AMERICAN
  POLITICAL DIVISIONS SEEM VERY NARROW RATHER THAN
  BEING DIAMETRICAL OPPOSITES, AS AMERICANS
  GENERALLY BELIEVE, LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM
  ARE SEEN AS NOT THAT DIFFERENT FROM ONE
  ANOTHER---IN OTHER WORDS, AS BEING TWO FACETS OF
  THE SAME MAINSTREAM. THE MEANING OF THESE
  DISTINCTIONS WILL BECOME CLEARER AS WE LOOK AT
  THESE CONCEPTS MORE CLOSELY.
• ALTERNATE TERMS USED IN THE ASSIGNED TEXT
  CHAPTERS.

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WHAT LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES SHARE
AMERICAN POLITICAL MAINSTREAM
CONSERVATISM
LIBERALISM
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MAINSTREAM U.S. POLITICAL THINKING A SUMMARY (1)

• LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES BOTH BELIEVE THAT
  IDEAS ULTIMATELY DETERMINE SOCIAL REALITY. THUS,
  OUR ECONOMIC POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS WERE
  INSPIRED BY AND CREATED TO PRACTICE, PROMOTE,
  DEFEND THE IDEAS OF DEMOCRACY, FREE ENTERPRISE,
  EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY.
• WHILE OUR IDEAS AND VALUES REFLECT OUR NATIONAL
  EXPERIENCE, AND FUEL OUR PERSONAL ASPIRATIONS,
  THEIR VALUE IS REALLY UNIVERSAL. WE AND OTHER
  PEOPLES CHERISH THEM BECAUSE THEY WORK.

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MAINSTREAM A SUMMARY (2)

• POPULAR ACCEPTANCE OF POWERFUL IDEAS/VALUES, LIKE
  THOSE JUST CITED, CONSTITUTES SOCIAL PROGRESS.
  SUCH IDEAS ALWAYS EXIST IN THE ABSTRACT, BUT
  THEIR ONGOING INCORPORATION INTO REAL LIFE
  DEMONSTRATES THAT HUMANKIND IS INDEED EVOLVING
  TOWARDS A HIGHER LEVEL.
• THE U.S. HAS BEEN THE WORLDS MORAL AND POLITICAL
  LEADER BECAUSE ITS IDEAS AND VALUES HAVE
  REPEATEDLY PROVEN TO BE THE CORRECT ONES---THEY
  HAVE BEEN MORE EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING HUMAN
  BETTERMENT THAN ANY IN HISTORY.

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MAINSTREAM A SUMMARY (3)

• On the other hand,
  LEAD TO

UNDEMOCRATIC POLITICAL IDEAS
UNDEMOCRATIC AND ROTTEN RESULTS
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THE MAINSTREAM CONCEPTIONS OF POLITICS A
NATIONAL DIALOGUE IN IDEAS

• Political campaigning is ostensibly about ideas
  candidates are supposed to present their ideas so
  that we voters can decide who is better prepared
  to lead the country.
• That politics has descended into mere
  personality contests is thus widely deplored,
  precisely because it deprives voters of rational
  choices among competing ideas.
• A further specifically American presumption is
  that liberalism and conservatism are the only
  appropriate idea frameworks (ideologies) for
  policy proposals. (Elsewhere, as noted in slide
  30, the ideological spectrum tends to be wider.)
• Both ideologies are thus squarely within the
  mainstream by world standards, and both share key
  assumptions about social and political reality.

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MAINSTREAM POLITICAL IDEAS LIBERALISM AND
CONSERVATISM

• THE POLITICAL SUBSETS OF AMERICAN MAINSTREAMISM
• WHILE LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM ACCEPT THE SAME
  BASIC GENERAL ORIENTATION, THEY DO DIFFER ON THE
  FOLLOWING SPECIFICS

• LIBERALISM
• EXPANDED SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES
• GREATER EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY
• ENHANCED GOVERNMENT REGULATION, AS
• NECESSARY FOR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE
• REDUCED CORPORATE INFLUENCE VIA CAMPAIGN
• LAW CHANGES AND OTHER REFORMS
• PROGRESSIVE TAXATION
• STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONSIM

• CONSERVATISM
• MAXIMUM FEASIBLE SWP PRIVATIZATION
• SOCIAL MOBILITY VIA INDIVIDUAL EFFORT
• REDUCED GOVERNMENT REGULATION IN
• FAVOR OF MARKET MECHANISMS
• PROMOTION OF CORPORATE PROFITS AND
• MINIMAL CHANGES IN CAMPAIGN LAWS
• FLATTER TAXES
• WEAKER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS

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CONSERVATISM

• CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE THAT ADOPTION OF THEIR
  IDEAS RESULT IN MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
  GOVERNMENT.
• THEY ARE CONVINCED THAT GOVERNMENT ECO
  INTERVENTION SHOULD BE MINIMIZED, SO THAT EACH
  INDIVIDUAL HAS BOTH THE DISCRETION AND OBLIGATION
  TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR FREE MARKET SYSTEM.

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LIBERALISM

• LIBERALS (SOMETIMES CALLED PROGRESSIVES, A
  CATEGORY THAT INCLUDES MOST SOCIAL WORKERS) ARE
  LIKEWISE CONVINCED IN THE MORAL AND LOGICAL
  SUPERIORITY OF THEIR IDEAS.
• THEY CONTEND THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD PURSUE EQUAL
  INDIVIDUAL OPPORTUNITY AND SOMEWHAT GREATER
  EQUALITY OF OUTCOME IN OTHER WORDS, THAT
  GOVERNMENT SHOULD HELP TO MAXIMIZE SOCIAL
  MOBILITY, WHILE LIMITING THE GAP BETWEEN RICH
  POOR. CHALLENGING INJUSTICE, AS ADVOCATED BY
  THE NASW CODE, IS THUS A TYPICAL EXPRESSION OF
  THE LIBERAL CREDO.

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LIBERALISM VERSUS CONSERVATISM SPECIFIC ISSUES

• LETS LOOK AT SOME SPECIFIC ISSUES IN ORDER TO
  ILLUSTRATE THE COMMON MAINSTREAM WAY OF
  INTERPRETING SOCIAL REALITY. FOR EXAMPLE

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A MAINSTREAM VIEW OF SOCIAL WORK

• SOCIAL WORK IS ABOUT
• 1. HELPING TO EMPOWER INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE
• SO THAT THEY HAVE GREATER
• CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES.
• 2. PROVIDING THERAPY
• TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS IN NEED OF SUCH
• SERVICES.
• 3. SUPPORTING PASSAGE OF PROGRESSIVE SWPS IN
  ORDER TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND
  EQUALITY.

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A MAINSTREAM EXAMPLE INDIVIDUALISM (1)

• The following illustration shows how one key
  mainstream value, individualism, helps to shape
  our institutions. From a mainstream perspective,
  our whole lives are quite appropriately based on
  the individualist ethos, whereby each person
  (individual) is responsible for his/her fate.
  Those who fail accordingly do so because they
  lack the right stuff. This belief necessarily
  obstructs sympathy for the poor, whom many (a
  majority of?) affluent Americans conclude have
  the wrong stuff as individuals. Hence their
  poverty is perceived as merited.

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MAINSTREAM THINKING AND INDIVIDUALISM (2)
ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE BASED ON THIS BELIEF IN
INDIVIDUALISM
THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS THE THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT
OF SOCIETY IS THE PIVOTAL IDEA IN
AMERICAN SOCIETY
43
ANOTHER EXAMPLE RACISM (1)

• Here again, the outlook should be familiar,
  not least because most Americans essentially
  share the same mainstream view on this sensitive
  subject.

44
MAINSTREAM INTERPRETATION OF RACISM (2)
Racism is basically an expression of peoples
ignorance an egregious example of what happens
when they have the wrong ideas about social
reality. To cure it we need to educate the
ignorant, so that they understand that people of
color are no different in any essential respect
from the white majority. Once this truth is
absorbed, then Americans of all colors can stop
hating and start cooperating. In the meantime,
the government needs to pass appropriate laws
banning discrimination. Social workers can do
their part by promoting diversity and doing more
to recruit people of color into the profession
45
SOUND FAMILIAR?

• IF MAINSTREAM VIEWS, AS PRESENTED THUS FAR, SOUND
  FAMILIAR, THATS BECAUSE THEY ARE INDEED
• MAINSTREAM!
• THAT IS, MOST AMERICANS MOST OF THE TIME THINK IN
  MAINSTREAM WAYS---SO MUCH SO THAT IT NEVER OCCURS
  TO MOST OF THEM THAT THERE ARE INDEED OTHER WAYS
  OF UNDERSTANDING REALITY.

46
RADICALISM (1)

• ALTHOUGH OFTEN SUBTLE AND COMPLEX, THE RADICAL
  VIEW OF REALITY WAS ESSENTIALLY SUMMARIZED BY
  KARL MARX, ITS LEADING EXPONENT, AS FOLLOWS

47
THE RADICAL VIEW OF REALITY (2)
THE IDEAS OF THE RULING CLASS ARE IN EVERY
EPOCH THE RULING IDEAS, I.E., THE CLASS WHICH IS
THE RULING MATERIAL FORCE IN SOCIETY IS AT THE
SAME TIME ITS RULING INTELLECTUAL FORCE. THE
CLASS WHICH HAS AT ITS DISPOSAL THE MATERIAL
MEANS OF PRODUCTION, HAS CONTROL AT THE SAME
TIME OVER THE MEANS OF MENTAL PRODUCTION, SO
THAT THEREBY, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THOSE WHO LACK
THE MEANS OF MENTAL PRODUCTION ARE SUBJECT TO
IT. KARL MARX, THE GERMAN
IDEOLOGY

• Famous
• philosopher

48
RADICALISM (3)

• TRANSLATED AT A RELATIVELY CRUDE LEVEL, MARX WAS
  SAYING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THE OBSERVATION
  ATTRIBUTED TO, A.J. LIEBLING, AN OLD-STYLE NEW
  YORK NEWSPAPERMAN
• FREEDOM OF THE PRESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO OWN
  ONE

49
SO WHO DOES OWN THE MEDIA, ANYWAY?

• A POPULAR GOVERNMENT WITHOUT POPULAR
  INFORMATION, OR THE MEANS OF ACQUIRING IT, IS BUT
  A PROLOGUE TO A FARCE OR A TRAGEDY, OR PERHAPS
  BOTH.
• JAMES MADISON (1822)
• READ ALL ABOUT IT!
• U.S. BOOK PUBLISHING IS NOW DOMINATED BY 7 FIRMS
• U.S. NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING IS NOW DOMINATED BY 6
  FIRMS
• U.S. CABLE TELEVISION IS NOW DOMINATED BY 6 FIRMS
• IN 1900 THE U.S. SOCIALIST PARTY HAD TWO MILLION
  MEMBERS AND PUBLISHED 325 NEWSPAPERS AND
  MAGAZINE IN 2000 THERE IS NO SOCIALIST PARTY AND
  ONLY A HANDFUL OF RADICAL PUBLICATIONS
• IN 1989 THE LARGEST SITDOWN STRIKE IN 30 YEARS
  (IN PITTSON, VA.) WAS VIRTUALLY UNREPORTED

50
A WORD FROM AN EXPERT

• To a large extent, the absence of
  informedpolitics reflects the power of U.S.
  media corporations to control and
  dominatepolitical debate. The corporate media
  may well be the most powerful adversary in the
  ranks of capital. They control what the general
  public sees and reads about the political process
  in the United States. Critical discussion of
  media structure is the last thing they want the
  general public to consider.
• Robert W. McChesney
• Leading media analyst

51
RADICALS (4)

• In other words, radicals believe that the
  creation, selection, and reception of ideas is by
  no means a neutral process, but rather reflects
  the outlook of the political and economic elite,
  whose ownership and/or control of the means of
  mental production---not only the media but the
  schools at all levels, as well as related
  institutions like advertising---assure that their
  views are likely to be accepted by the average
  person.
• Thus, rather than incorporating universal
  meanings, as mainstreamers believe, ideas such as
  democracy, freedom, and equalityreflect
  and reinforce the specific class relations of
  capitalist society e.g., we only are taught and
  therefore only understand democracy as it
  exists under capitalist conditions, which is in
  turn only one---and, from the Marxian
  perspective, one distinctly limited---form of
  democracy.
• Alternative understandings of democracy and
  other basic concepts are, as a practical matter,
  simply not provided with much exposure.

52
RADICALISM (5)

• It is very important to understand, however, that
  bourgeois ideology, whether in its liberal or
  conservative form, is NOT part of some crude
  capitalist conspiracy. Although ideas
  threatening to the status quo are generally
  excluded from the mass media and school system,
  the rich do not secretly get together to put one
  over on the rest of us---such a notion is a
  childish oversimplification of how capitalism
  really works.
• Instead, most people understand that certain
  ideas are acceptable while others are not. Even
  when familiar with the latter (which is often not
  the case), people who make their living
  communicating ideas are alert to the need to
  censor themselves lest expressions of
  unorthodoxy result in punishments, such as
  firing or, in the case of academics, denial of
  tenure. Power in democratic capitalist
  societies is thus generally wielded in a subtle,
  indirect way. Instead of squelching dangerous
  ideas outright, the powerful depend on their
  underlings to be smart enough not to raise
  awkward issues in the first place. Subversive
  ideas are thereby excluded from everyday
  discourse, so that, as a practical matter, they
  might as well not exist at all! The result is
  that most people most of the time just assume
  that the way they live is the way they must live
  there are no alternatives worth bothering about,
  especially since daily pressures generally
  preclude consideration of such possibilities. It
  is only when the economy goes into crisis that
  people may begin to consider alternatives.

53
MAINSTREAMISM AND RADICALISM A COMPARISON

• MAINSTREAMISM
• Ideas like democracy and freedom are
  universals.
• Ideas are accepted or rejected on the basis of
  reason.
• Conservatism and liberalism constitute the entire
  range of sensible and acceptable social and
  political discourse anything outside these ways
  of thinking is unacceptable because it is neither
  intellectually sensible nor politically
  practicable.

• RADICALISM
• The meaning of such ideas is dependent on
  specific political and historical circumstances.
• Mass acceptance or rejection depends more on
  power than on reason. Indeed, a group or class
  has power to the extent that ideas reflecting its
  outlook interests (e.g., about what constitutes
  democracy) are widely accepted.
• Although pervasive in the U.S., conservatism
  liberalism are merely two sides of the same
  capitalist (bourgeois) coin. There are more
  insightful ways of understanding social reality.

54
AN RADICAL VIEW OF SOCIAL WORK

• SOCIAL WORK IS ABOUT
• HELPING TO ASSURE POLITICAL NORMALCY BY
• FACILITATING THE INDIVIDUAL TO ADJUST TO
  RATHER THAN QUESTION AN UNJUST STATUS QUO.
• 2. ACTING AS THE COERCIVE AGENTS OF AN
  INEQUITABLE SYSTEM WHICH CREATES THE VERY
  PROBLEMS---NOTABLY, POVERTY, RACISM, CRIME,
  ADDICTION, ETC.---THAT SOCIAL WORKERS OSTENSIBLY
  SEEK TO COMBAT. IT FOLLOWS THAT SOCIAL WORKERS
  MUST ATTEND TO THE DISEASE ITSELF RATHER THAN
  MERELY TO ITS SYMPTONS.
• 3. SUPPORTING PASSAGE OF SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES
  THAT DO LITTLE OR NOTHING TO ADDRESS THE
  UNDERLYING STRUCTURAL PROBLEM---NAMELY, THE
  OVERWHELMING CAPITALIST ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
  POWER.

55
A RADICAL DEPICTION OF INDIVIDUALISM
RADICALS CONTEND THAT IN OUR SOCIETY
BOTH PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS, ARE SHAPED TO
REFLECT THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INTERESTS OF
SOCIETYS RICHEST AND MOST POWERFUL
ELEMENTS--- FUNDAMENTALLY, THE CAPITALIST CLASS,
WHICH OWNS AND CONTROLS MOST OF THE WEALTH
CREATED BY SOCIETY AS A WHOLE. THE FOLLOWING
TWO SLIDES EXPLAIN RADICAL THINKING IN MORE
DETAIL
56
A RADICAL DEPICTION OF INDIVIDUALISM
Under capitalism, people beliefs about the good
life reflects the values of the capitalist
class, which controls institutional life through
its ownership of the means of production.The
result is that all institutions function in
accordance w/capitalist economic and political
priorities. What Americans call individualism
is thus merely the necessary adaptations we must
make to the conditions of life under capitalism.
These are celebrated by the capitalist media as
invigoratingly competitive and joyfully
consumerist, and are promoted in the schools
as self-reliant individualism. In reality,
however, we have no choice but to accommodate to
the institutional life of this society, since
this is the only way we are able to survive. The
next slide takes a closer look at this process.
57
A RADICAL DEPICTION OF INDIVIDUALISM
Our institutional life is controlled by those who
own and control the productive wealth
(capital) of society. Ultimately, all ideas,
values, and---yes, social welfare
programs--- reflect capitalist interests and
priorities, which are essentially the 1)
maintenance of social order and (2) nurturing
conditions favorable to profit making (a
friendly business climate). It is, for example,
in the interest of the corporations---owned for
the most part by the very rich---see module 4 for
details) to keep labor costs down by
encouraging a massive influx of cheap labor into
the market, thereby depressing wages and keeping
inflation under control. There are other ways to
accomplish the same goal ---for example, a tax on
luxury consumption---but these are opposed by the
rich as threaten- ing to their wealth and
political power. From the radical viewpoint,then,
EVERY SOCIAL POLICY ISSUE FACING AMERICAN
SOCIETY, AND EVERY MAINSTREAM SOLUTION TO THOSE
ISSUES, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER REFLECT
THESE REALITIES, EVEN THO MOST OF US
DONTREALIZE THIS TO BE THE CASE. Racism
constitutes a good illustration in this regard.
58
A RADICAL INTERPRETATION OF RACISM
Black people have been ruthlessly exploited ever
since they were brought here as slaves.
Fundamentally, the situation of the black masses
has yet to change. True, many blacks have been
incorporated into the middle class (the black
bourgeoisie), But most are still at the end of
the line when it comes to job opportunities. (La
st hired, first fired.) Thus, radicals calls
attention to the role welfare recipients play in
the economy they are tossed into the labor
market when times are good, so as to dampen
wages, and tossed out when there arent enough
jobs to go around. In short, capitalism breeds
racism, whatever the prevailing ideas may
contend. (For more on racism, see module 4.)
59
RACIAL PREJUDICE ANOTHER LOOK

• RADICAL VIEW
• YES, IGNORANCE IS OF COURSE REFLECTED IN RACIAL
  ATTITUDES, BUT SO IS ECONOMICS!
• FOR EXAMPLE, WHITE RACISM ULTIMATELY DERIVES FROM
  FEARS THAT BLACKS THREATEN JOBS AND REAL ESTATE
  VALUES, AS WELL AS THE SOCIAL STATUS OF
  LOWER-MIDDLE CLASS WHITES, WHO WANT TO BELIEVE
  THEY ARE SUPERIOR TO BLACKS. IT DIVIDES PEOPLE
  FROM ONE ANOTHER, AND THEREFORE HELPS TO SUSTAIN
  THE STATUS QUO.
• IT FOLLOWS THAT RACIAL PREJUDICE WILL NOT
  DISAPPEAR UNTIL AND UNLESS THERE ARE ENOUGH
  DECENT JOBS FOR EVERYONE OTHERWISE COMPETITION
  FOR THESE POSITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO GENERATE
  FEAR AND SUSPICION.

• MAINSTREAM VIEW
• RACISM RESULTS FROM IGNORNANCE PEOPLE WOULD
  CEASE TO BE RACISTS IF THEY WERE PROPERLY
  EDUCATED IN THE MEANING OF BROTHERHOOD AND HAD A
  SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF GENETICS AND HUMAN
  EVOLUTION.
• IN ADDITION TO ITS OTHER BENEFITS, RACIAL
  INTEGRATION GIVES PEOPLE THE CHANCE TO KNOW ONE
  ANOTHER ON A PERSONAL BASIS THEIR IDEAS ABOUT
  RACE WILL CHANGE ONCE THEY INTERACT OVER AN
  EXTENDED PERIOD.

60
STILL NOT SURE WHETHER YOU ARE A MAINSTREAMER OR
A RADICAL?
HERES SOME ADDITIONAL DETAILED STUFF TO HELP
YOU DECIDE!
61
MAINSTREAMISM VS. RADICALISM FURTHER COMMENTS

• THE PRECEDING EXAMPLES IS JUST THAT EXAMPLES OF
  HOW THE MAINSTREAM-RADICAL DISTINCTION CAN BE
  APPLIED TO VIRTUALLY ALL SOCIAL ISSUES. BECAUSE
  AMERICANS ARE SO ACCUSTOMED TO THINKING IN
  IDEALIST TERMS, IT RARELY OCCURS TO THEM THAT
  THERE IS ANOTHER (I.E., MATERIALIST) WAY OF
  UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL REALITY. YET IF THIS CLASS
  HAS ONE OVERRIDING LESSON, IT IS THE IMPORTANCE
  OF ACQUIRING SUCH UNDERSTANDING FOR REASONS
  PROVIDED IN EARLIER SLIDES.
• NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT WHILE MAINSTREAM-RADICAL
  PARADIGMS ARE CONCEPTUALLY DISTINCT, THEY ARE, AS
  A PRACTICAL MATTER, INTERRELATED IN COMPLEX WAYS.
  THUS, ALL PEOPLE BELIEVE THEIR IDEAS ABOUT SOCIAL
  REALITY TO BE TRUE, BUT MOST RARELY REFLECT ON
  THE DEEPER ORIGINS OF THOSE IDEAS---THAT IS, WHY
  THEY BELIEVE AS THEY DO.
• IN SHORT, UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL POLICY/SOCIAL
  REALITY REQUIRES A SUBTLE INTELLIGENCE CAPABLE OF
  GRASPING THE INTERRELATION OF IDEAS AND POWER.
  ACQUIRING SUCH UNDERSTANDING REQUIRES AN ALERT
  MIND INTERESTED IN HISTORY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, AND
  PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

62
DO YOU FIT THE BILL?
63
MAINSTREAMISM VS. RADICALISM A NOTE FOR SOCIAL
WORKERS

• SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS CAN PERHAPS BETTER GRASP
  THESE DISTINCTIONS IF THEY THINK OF THEM IN
  PSYCHO-SOCIAL TERMS FAMILIAR TO THOSE WITH
  THERAPEUTIC TRAINING.
• THUS, THE OBJECT OF THERAPY IS TO HELP CLIENTS
  UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR IDEAS ABOUT THEMSELVES
  (THEIR SELF IMAGES) DERIVE FROM THEIR FORMATIVE
  EXPERIENCES. IN OTHER WORDS, SELF-IMAGES HAVE
  CAUSES, AND THOSE CAUSES ULTIMATELY ARE ROOTED IN
  THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ONES UPBRINGING AND EARLY
  RELATIONSHIPS.
• IN THE SAME WAY, OUR SOCIAL UNDERSTANDINGS (E.G.,
  WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN, A SUCCESS, OR A
  MORALLY RESPONSIBLE PERSON) REFLECT THE SOCIAL
  CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR UPBRINGING THE SOCIAL
  VALUES INCULCATED BY THE FAMILY, MASS MEDIA,
  SCHOOLS, AND WHAT THE SOCIOLOGISTS CALL OTHER
  SOCIALIZING INSTITUTIONS. THE RESULT IS THAT WE
  RARELY REFLECT ON THE ECONOMIC INTERESTS SERVED
  BY THESE IDEAS OR HOW THESE IDEAS HELP TO
  BUTTRESS A HIGHLY INEGALITARIAN STATUS QUO. YET
  TO BE EFFECTIVE POLICY ADVOCATES FOR OUR CLIENTS,
  WE MUST ACQUIRE SUCH UNDERSTANDING---THAT IS, WE
  MUST LEARN TO THINK IN BOTH MAINSTREAM AND
  RADICAL FRAMES OF REFERENCE.

64
A THOUGHTFUL EXERCISE
Use your new knowledge of mainstreamism and
radicalism, to review some social policy or
social welfare policy issue of interest to
you. which viewpoint appears to provide
the stronger case?