{"product_id":"the-welfare-assembly-line-public-servants-in-the-suffering-city-9780520404168","title":"The Welfare Assembly Line: Public Servants in the Suffering City","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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Welfare Assembly Line\u003c\/i\u003e is a crucial addition to the broader national conversation about work, social policy, and poverty governance. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJosh Seim\u003c\/b\u003e is Associate Professor of Sociology at Boston College and author of \u003ci\u003eBandage, Sort, and Hustle: Ambulance Crews on the Front Lines of Urban Suffering.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of California Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52127754420498,"sku":"9780520404168","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3948ab12-ba59-4cc7-aff4-a181c0865a1e.jpg?v=1773746803","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-welfare-assembly-line-public-servants-in-the-suffering-city-9780520404168","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}