American and Indigenous Studies Program, Anthropology Program, Bard Prison Initiative, Human Rights Program, Politics Program, and Sociology Program Present

The Welfare Assembly Line: Public Servants in the Suffering City

Despite claims that we live in a “post-welfare society,” welfare offices remain vital not only for those who depend on them for benefits but also those who depend on them for a paycheck. This theory-driven case study of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services examines how welfare work has transformed to allow a department of just 14,000 to serve over a third of the county. Drawing on ethnographic observations, archival research, in-depth interviews, and a range of supplemental materials, I argue that frontline workers at this agency, who are mostly Black and Brown women, have become increasingly proletarianized. Their work is defined less by their discretion and more by a lack of control over the productive process. This is enabled by a “welfare assembly line,” where high divisions of labor and heavy uses of machinery resemble production regimes in factories and fast-food restaurants. Beyond welfare offices, this study contributes to larger conversations about work, social policy, and poverty governance. 

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Download: THE-WELFARE-ASSEMBLY-LINE.pdf

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Olin Humanities, Room 102

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