Supplemental Security Income, passed in 1972 during an innovative and expansive phase of the American welfare state, marked an effort to do welfare right. But economic and political circumstances, as well as the contingencies of the moment, all combined to turn the program into a source of controversy over such things as whether parents coached their children to act "crazy" in an effort to secure benefits or whether immigrants deserved benefits. As a result, instead of marking a new departure in social policy, the program replicated many of the features of the welfare system it was designed to replace.The seminar will take place on Monday, November 4, 2013, at 4:00 p.m. at the Woodrow Wilson Center, 6th Floor Moynihan Boardroom, Ronald Reagan Building, Federal Triangle Metro Stop.
Edward Berkowitz, who received his doctorate in history from Northwestern University, is a professor of history, public policy, and public administration at George Washington University. He is the co-author, along with former chief Social Security historian Larry DeWitt, of The Other Welfare: Supplemental Security Income and U.S. Social Policy (Cornell University Press, 2013). Other recent books include a history of the nineteen seventies (Something Happened, 2006) and a history of mass culture in modern America (Mass Appeal, 2010).
Reservations requested because of limited seating: mbarber@historians.org or 202-450-3209
Photo ID required for admittance to the building.
