Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 573 g
Reihe: Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives
The Townsend Plan and the Rise of Social Security
Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 573 g
Reihe: Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives
ISBN: 978-0-691-13826-8
Verlag: Princeton University Press
When Movements Matter accounts for the origins of Social Security as we know it. The book tells the overlooked story of the Townsend Plan--a political organization that sought to alleviate poverty and end the Great Depression through a government-provided retirement stipend of $200 a month for every American over the age of sixty.Both the Townsend Plan, which organized two million older Americans into Townsend clubs, and the wider pension movement failed to win the generous and universal senior citizens' pensions their advocates demanded. But the movement provided the political impetus behind old-age policy in its formative years and pushed America down the track of creating an old-age welfare state.Drawing on a wealth of primary evidence, historical detail, and arresting images, Edwin Amenta traces the ups and downs of the Townsend Plan and its elderly leader Dr. Francis E. Townsend in the struggle to remake old age. In the process, Amenta advances a new theory of when social movements are influential.The book challenges the conventional wisdom that U.S. old-age policy was a result mainly of the Depression or farsighted bureaucrats. It also debunks the current view that America immediately embraced Social Security when it was adopted in 1935. And it sheds new light on how social movements that fail to achieve their primary goals can still influence social policy and the way people relate to politics.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik: Kranken-, Alten- und Behindertenhilfe
- Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
- Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
- Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Interessengruppen, Lobbyismus und Protestbewegungen
Weitere Infos & Material
Preface vii
Introduction: The Townsend Plan?s Image Problem 1
Chapter One: Success or Consequences, and U.S. Social Movements 14
Chapter Two: How the West Was Won Over 35
Chapter Three: Behind the Townsend Plan?s Rise and Initial Impact 62
Chapter Four: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security 81
Chapter Five: A National Challenger 105
Chapter Six: Dr. Townsend, Now at the Helm 130
Chapter Seven: The Rise of a Pension Movement 151
Chapter Eight: The Townsend Plan versus Social Security, Part 2 176
Chapter Nine: The Elusive Double Victory 197
Conclusion: A Hero for the Aged? 221
Acknowledgments 243
Notes 245
Index 311
'When Movements Matter' accounts for the origins of Social Security as we know it. The book tells the overlooked story of the Townsend Plan--a political organization that sought to alleviate poverty and end the Great Depression through a government-provided retirement stipend of $200 a month for every American over the age of sixty.
Both the Townsend Plan, which organized two million older Americans into Townsend clubs, and the wider pension movement failed to win the generous and universal senior citizens' pensions their advocates demanded. But the movement provided the political impetus behind old-age policy in its formative years and pushed America down the track of creating an old-age welfare state.
Drawing on a wealth of primary evidence, historical detail, and arresting images, Edwin Amenta traces the ups and downs of the Townsend Plan and its elderly leader Dr. Francis E. Townsend in the struggle to remake old age. In the process, Amenta advances a new theory of when social movements are influential.
The book challenges the conventional wisdom that U.S. old-age policy was a result mainly of the Depression or farsighted bureaucrats. It also debunks the current view that America immediately embraced Social Security when it was adopted in 1935. And it sheds new light on how social movements that fail to achieve their primary goals can still influence social policy and the way people relate to politics.
