At Work, At Home? New Geographies of Work and Care-giving under Welfare Reform in the US

Abstract

This paper examines what is considered work within contemporary US welfare policy and how work relates to care-work. After putting changes to US social welfare policy in the 1990s in context, the paper compares what counts as a work activity under welfare reform. It is argued that 'work' and 'non-work' are implicitly defined in terms of gender, race and space. Through engagement with contemporary feminist social theory (particularly the work of Nancy Fraser), it is argued that within America's new world of welfare, work continues to be defined in terms that are both masculinist and place-based.