Low income single mothers and people living in poverty generally are without many political resources. Under these conditions, it becomes a real test to be able to balance between political changes that will prove both feasible and worthwhile . Many feasible changes, like extending procedural rights to welfare recipients, can be coopted to help manage welfare more bureaucratically. Many worthwhile changes, like establishing a right to live or guaranteeing all people a basic income, can be dismissed as antithetical to dominant values in society. There is also the problem of understanding what is possible when .
Welfare fulfills a role in society, reinforcing race, gender and class relations.
It is part of the broader political economy. How far welfare can be changed to served people s needs depends upon recognizing those limits and contesting them when conditions are ripe . Men get to make history, but don t get to determine the circumstances under which they get to make it. Welfare to work programs that enabled people to take decent jobs when they were ready and able to work would be an example of anti-reformist reform. The trick is knowing when a reform does not just reinforce the limitations of the existing system but helps build in the capacity to move beyond it.