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"As Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward argued in the early seventies, in a capitalist economy, social welfare policies alternatingly serve political and economic ends as circumstances dictate. In moments of political stability, governments emphasize a capitalistic work ethic (even if it means working a job that will leave one impoverished); when times are less politically stable, states liberalize welfare policies to recreate the conditions for political acquiescence. Sanford Schram has argued that each swing of this cycle can be seen as producing its own path dependency of diminishing returns for the poor, even while people increasingly become dependent upon public assistance. This produces a new normal in which economic inequality increases with each cycle: political discourse shifts to a focus on national debt while the poor and working class are disciplined to be market-compliant actors. As Schram points out, recent economic downturns have accelerated these shifts. He calls this a return to "ordinary capitalism," or a return to destabilizing conditions that increase political gridlock on issues of social welfare and forestall any momentum to address problems brought about by the changing economy. In this book, Schram, building on a lifetime of writings on public welfare, looks at the ways in which this shift affects social policymaking across a range of policy areas, including welfare policy, drug treatment programs, and education. Drawing on a number of cases, he proposes ways to better account for these shifts toward ordinary capitalism and highlights instances of programs that work well in order to suggest paths toward a more progressive politics"--

How does a graduate student acquire the skills necessary to define a clear research agenda and write meaningful contributions to the scholarship in his or her field? Can the requirements of professional advancement in the ivory tower be reconciled with making a difference in the bare-knuckle world of policymaking? Can even a celebrated activist-scholar survive the seemingly relentless neoliberalization of higher education? Becoming a Footnote takes the reader on an inspirational journey through the experiences of researcher Sanford F. Schram, illuminating how he overcame his early insecurities and limitations, particularly about his writing, to develop into someone cited by both scholars and people involved in the policymaking process. With wit and humor, Schram illustrates how his award-winning research on race, poverty, and welfare emerged from the political struggles in which he was immersed, and how we all have something unique to contribute if we commit ourselves to making it happen