{"product_id":"9780520404168","title":"The Welfare Assembly Line : Public Servants in the Suffering City by Josh Seim","description":"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 for those who depend on them for a paycheck. This book, a 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 more than a third of the county.    Josh Seim argues 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 a high division of labor and heavy use of machinery resemble production regimes in factories and fast-food restaurants. With implications beyond the welfare office, The Welfare Assembly Line is a crucial addition to the broader national conversation about work, social policy, and poverty governance.    ?\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368048013685,"sku":"9780520404168","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9780520404168","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}