Book review of William Roth, The Assault on Social Policy. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.50 paper cover

Nackerud, Larry

English

ScholarWorks at WMU

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 30 Issue 3 September Article 12 September 2003 Review of The Assault on Social Policy. William Roth. Reviewed by Larry Nackerud. Larry Nackerud University of Georgia Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw  Part of the Social Policy Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Nackerud, Larry (2003) "Review of The Assault on Social Policy. William Roth. Reviewed by Larry Nackerud.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 30 : Iss. 3 , Article 12. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol30/iss3/12 This Book Review is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu. Book Reviews 165contemporary issues, I was disappointed not to find a chapteron the role of religion in social services provision. While theWhite House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiativesand President George W. Bush's involvement in this area came atthe tail end of the writing of this book, Charitable Choice passedcongress in 1996 and paved the way for a renewed role for religionin the field of welfare. The authors mention President GeorgeW. Bush's pre-election religious statements twice but ignored hisand Al Gore's call for the inclusion of religion in public welfare.Furthermore, even the role of traditional players such as CatholicCharities, Salvation Army, and Jewish family services are nothighlighted.Another void in the book is the role of the clergy. Over halfa million Americans serve as clergy in various capacities andare held in special esteem and respect. The role religion plays ineveryday life in America is mostly through local congregations.This basic sociological unit and what it does to foster communitylife is understudied. Also absent is the ever present debate be-tween those advocating "creationism" versus those who advocate"evolution." Regardless of these omissions, Christiano, Santos,and Kivisto provide us with an excellent book on the sociology ofreligion. The many topics they elected to cover are well designedand provide a variety of view points.The authors aim at college students as their audience andhave provided us with a helpful textbook that can be the back-bone of every course on the sociology of religion. Focusing oncontemporary issues makes the topics more amenable to youngstudents and the many side bars are well chosen and easy tofollow. Even the photos, most of them by William H. Swatos, Jr.,are most helpful and wisely inserted.Ram A. CnaanUniversity of PennsylvaniaWilliam Roth, The Assault on Social Policy. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.50 paper cover.I am proud of William Roth for writing this book. It takescourage to author a book in the year 2002 that suggests a replace-ment for capitalism. While the economic system of capitalism is166 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfareconquering the world, Roth describes capitalism as an uncaringeconomic system that should be replaced by something he calls"democratic socialism." With the purpose of describing the trueetiology of social policies, the book is reminiscent of the onlyclassic in the social sciences written by a social worker, Piven andCloward's, Regulating the Poor.Roth convincingly explains how social policy constructionand existence favor the interests of those persons in power, partic-ularly corporate representatives, over the interests of the poor andthe disadvantaged. Assuming that Roth started writing the bookat least a year before the publication date of 2002, his criticisms ofthe capitalistic system reveal his clairvoyant abilities. Who couldhave guessed that shortly after Roth had the book published, thatthe world would bear witness to the collapse of corporations aspowerful as Enron and WorldCom and the demise of the mostrespected accounting firm in the world, Arthur Andersen. Allthis in the name of greed and poor "accounting practices." IfRoth could have only known, his expressed outrage at capitalisticmarkets and "corpocracy" would have undoubtedly been evenmore intense.Roth claims early in the book that each of the 10 chaptersis "substantially different in its emphasis and approach (p. 5)."There is no question that the author's claim is fulfilled in the book.Chapter one is about policy. Policy is defined, policy is described,and a link is made to how policy, social policy in particular,is tied to the market place. The reader cannot help but realizeafter reading the first chapter how central the ideas of economy,marketplace, and "market capitalism" will be to the entire book.A well-developed idea in the first chapter is that "market capi-talism is a construction, not some natural law (p. 15)." Chapter2 is about the impact of corporations and globalization on socialpolicies. Roth makes a convincing claim that corporations needsocial policies to be congruent with the needs of the businesscommunity. Chapters 3 through 8, even though each has a dif-ferent presentation perspective, focus on traditional social policyissue areas, poverty, welfare, disability, social security, health, andchildren.Chapters 9 and 10 establish the true character of the book.Chapter 9, titled "Outsiders," focuses on Roth's musings aboutBook Reviews 167the constructed categories of insiders and outsiders (e.g., sick peo-ple with no medical insurance) and the resultant categories of thehaves and the have-nots. The claim is that corporate power andsocial policy development are primarily congruent with the inter-ests of economic insiders and the haves. In Chapter 10, the readeris provided a synopsis of the social policy analyses containedin the previous chapters. Philosophy rules supreme, however, inChapter 10 as Roth attempts to convince the reader that conceiv-able alternatives to capitalism exist. He concludes first with theobservation that socialism is the best alternative to capitalism.He then concludes, with considerable detail, that his personallyfavored form of socialism, democratic socialism, is the best.Roth is true to his claim that "the book is not meant to bean exhaustive examination of social policy, nor is it bipartisan,nonpartisan, or even impartial (p. 5)." Roth lets everyone clearlyknow what is his thinking about social policy. Current socialpolicies are described as inadequate, undemocratic, and evendisgraceful.While the message is clear, herein lies the difficulty with thebook. While no one will disagree with Roth that "bureaucracyis a means of domination, a way to grind people up, and af-fects out lives outside the bureaucracy" or that "corporationsare complex organizations of dominance, in which haves controlhave-nots (p. 158)," what would he have us do? Roth's proposalthat bureaucracy as a structural form of organizations should beresisted creates a sense of surrealism for the book. The idea thatlife as we know it can be re-constructed and that the impact ofthe capitalistic economic system, as expressed by the existence ofthe corporate model, can be diminished leaves the same feelinghanging in the air.As noted at the beginning of the review, the author is clearlyworthy of praise for writing a book suggesting an alternative tothe current corporate-based model of capitalism. At the sametime, the book reads as if it was written in another era, quitepossibly for readers reared in another era. The book has the ring ofthe liberal rants of the 1960s. Does the book have any applicationin the year 2002? The question is not whether the book is wellwritten. It is. The question is not whether the author has been ableto express his views in a cogent manner. He has. The question is168 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfarenot whether a reader committed to a socially constructive analysisof current social policies will be better informed after readingthe book. They will. Of these things, there can be no doubt. Anyreader committed to the traditional liberal position and wantingto know more about social policies will learn a great deal aboutthe philosophical foundation of social policy in the United States.Will a reader with a political position other than the traditionalliberal one be able to maintain interest in the book as bureaucracyas a structure is condemned and corporations are recommendedfor reconstruction? Of that, I'm not so sure.Larry NackerudUniversity of GeorgiaMark W. Frazier, The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace:State, Revolution and Labor Management. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2002. $60.00 hardcover.The work unit or danwei, had for decades been the mostimportant institution in urban China. Every working man andwoman belonged to a danwei. The danwei was, however, not justa workplace. In the pre-reform economy, the danwei was theprincipal channel through which the socialist state distributedincome and resources to its urban residents. Danwei membershipestablished worker's identity and entitled them to a range ofstate-provided benefits. These typically covered health insurance,retirement pensions, housing, nurseries, canteens, bathing facil-ities, various kinds of subsidies both in cash and in kind and,in large organizations, hospitals and schools. Because of thesebenefits and services, workers became heavily dependent on theirdanwei to meet a broad range of needs. Such dependence wasaccentuated by low wages, the lack of alternatives, and by thefact that there was no real exit option: job transfer was exceptionaland employment within the same work unit was more or less forlife. The danwei was therefore like a 'small society' encompassingmany aspects of the lives of its members. Within their 'small so-cieties', danwei leaders were more than managers responsible forproduction. Like heads of households, they were also responsiblefor the welfare of their workers and their dependents. Manager-worker relations were paternalistic and 'fief-like'.

Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Assault on Social Policy.\u3c/em\u3e William Roth. Reviewed by Larry Nackerud.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 
Volume 30 
Issue 3 September Article 12 
September 2003 
Review of The Assault on Social Policy. William Roth. Reviewed by 
Larry Nackerud. 
Larry Nackerud 
University of Georgia 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw 
 Part of the Social Policy Commons, and the Social Work Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Nackerud, Larry (2003) "Review of The Assault on Social Policy. William Roth. Reviewed by Larry 
Nackerud.," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 30 : Iss. 3 , Article 12. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol30/iss3/12 
This Book Review is brought to you by the Western 
Michigan University School of Social Work. For more 
information, please contact wmu-
scholarworks@wmich.edu. 
Book Reviews 165
contemporary issues, I was disappointed not to find a chapter
on the role of religion in social services provision. While the
White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives
and President George W. Bush's involvement in this area came at
the tail end of the writing of this book, Charitable Choice passed
congress in 1996 and paved the way for a renewed role for religion
in the field of welfare. The authors mention President George
W. Bush's pre-election religious statements twice but ignored his
and Al Gore's call for the inclusion of religion in public welfare.
Furthermore, even the role of traditional players such as Catholic
Charities, Salvation Army, and Jewish family services are not
highlighted.
Another void in the book is the role of the clergy. Over half
a million Americans serve as clergy in various capacities and
are held in special esteem and respect. The role religion plays in
everyday life in America is mostly through local congregations.
This basic sociological unit and what it does to foster community
life is understudied. Also absent is the ever present debate be-
tween those advocating "creationism" versus those who advocate
"evolution." Regardless of these omissions, Christiano, Santos,
and Kivisto provide us with an excellent book on the sociology of
religion. The many topics they elected to cover are well designed
and provide a variety of view points.
The authors aim at college students as their audience and
have provided us with a helpful textbook that can be the back-
bone of every course on the sociology of religion. Focusing on
contemporary issues makes the topics more amenable to young
students and the many side bars are well chosen and easy to
follow. Even the photos, most of them by William H. Swatos, Jr.,
are most helpful and wisely inserted.
Ram A. Cnaan
University of Pennsylvania
William Roth, The Assault on Social Policy. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2002. $49.50 hardcover, $22.50 paper cover.
I am proud of William Roth for writing this book. It takes
courage to author a book in the year 2002 that suggests a replace-
ment for capitalism. While the economic system of capitalism is
166 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
conquering the world, Roth describes capitalism as an uncaring
economic system that should be replaced by something he calls
"democratic socialism." With the purpose of describing the true
etiology of social policies, the book is reminiscent of the only
classic in the social sciences written by a social worker, Piven and
Cloward's, Regulating the Poor.
Roth convincingly explains how social policy construction
and existence favor the interests of those persons in power, partic-
ularly corporate representatives, over the interests of the poor and
the disadvantaged. Assuming that Roth started writing the book
at least a year before the publication date of 2002, his criticisms of
the capitalistic system reveal his clairvoyant abilities. Who could
have guessed that shortly after Roth had the book published, that
the world would bear witness to the collapse of corporations as
powerful as Enron and WorldCom and the demise of the most
respected accounting firm in the world, Arthur Andersen. All
this in the name of greed and poor "accounting practices." If
Roth could have only known, his expressed outrage at capitalistic
markets and "corpocracy" would have undoubtedly been even
more intense.
Roth claims early in the book that each of the 10 chapters
is "substantially different in its emphasis and approach (p. 5)."
There is no question that the author's claim is fulfilled in the book.
Chapter one is about policy. Policy is defined, policy is described,
and a link is made to how policy, social policy in particular,
is tied to the market place. The reader cannot help but realize
after reading the first chapter how central the ideas of economy,
marketplace, and "market capitalism" will be to the entire book.
A well-developed idea in the first chapter is that "market capi-
talism is a construction, not some natural law (p. 15)." Chapter
2 is about the impact of corporations and globalization on social
policies. Roth makes a convincing claim that corporations need
social policies to be congruent with the needs of the business
community. Chapters 3 through 8, even though each has a dif-
ferent presentation perspective, focus on traditional social policy
issue areas, poverty, welfare, disability, social security, health, and
children.
Chapters 9 and 10 establish the true character of the book.
Chapter 9, titled "Outsiders," focuses on Roth's musings about
Book Reviews 167
the constructed categories of insiders and outsiders (e.g., sick peo-
ple with no medical insurance) and the resultant categories of the
haves and the have-nots. The claim is that corporate power and
social policy development are primarily congruent with the inter-
ests of economic insiders and the haves. In Chapter 10, the reader
is provided a synopsis of the social policy analyses contained
in the previous chapters. Philosophy rules supreme, however, in
Chapter 10 as Roth attempts to convince the reader that conceiv-
able alternatives to capitalism exist. He concludes first with the
observation that socialism is the best alternative to capitalism.
He then concludes, with considerable detail, that his personally
favored form of socialism, democratic socialism, is the best.
Roth is true to his claim that "the book is not meant to be
an exhaustive examination of social policy, nor is it bipartisan,
nonpartisan, or even impartial (p. 5)." Roth lets everyone clearly
know what is his thinking about social policy. Current social
policies are described as inadequate, undemocratic, and even
disgraceful.
While the message is clear, herein lies the difficulty with the
book. While no one will disagree with Roth that "bureaucracy
is a means of domination, a way to grind people up, and af-
fects out lives outside the bureaucracy" or that "corporations
are complex organizations of dominance, in which haves control
have-nots (p. 158)," what would he have us do? Roth's proposal
that bureaucracy as a structural form of organizations should be
resisted creates a sense of surrealism for the book. The idea that
life as we know it can be re-constructed and that the impact of
the capitalistic economic system, as expressed by the existence of
the corporate model, can be diminished leaves the same feeling
hanging in the air.
As noted at the beginning of the review, the author is clearly
worthy of praise for writing a book suggesting an alternative to
the current corporate-based model of capitalism. At the same
time, the book reads as if it was written in another era, quite
possibly for readers reared in another era. The book has the ring of
the liberal rants of the 1960s. Does the book have any application
in the year 2002? The question is not whether the book is well
written. It is. The question is not whether the author has been able
to express his views in a cogent manner. He has. The question is
168 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
not whether a reader committed to a socially constructive analysis
of current social policies will be better informed after reading
the book. They will. Of these things, there can be no doubt. Any
reader committed to the traditional liberal position and wanting
to know more about social policies will learn a great deal about
the philosophical foundation of social policy in the United States.
Will a reader with a political position other than the traditional
liberal one be able to maintain interest in the book as bureaucracy
as a structure is condemned and corporations are recommended
for reconstruction? Of that, I'm not so sure.
Larry Nackerud
University of Georgia
Mark W. Frazier, The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace:
State, Revolution and Labor Management. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2002. $60.00 hardcover.
The work unit or danwei, had for decades been the most
important institution in urban China. Every working man and
woman belonged to a danwei. The danwei was, however, not just
a workplace. In the pre-reform economy, the danwei was the
principal channel through which the socialist state distributed
income and resources to its urban residents. Danwei membership
established worker's identity and entitled them to a range of
state-provided benefits. These typically covered health insurance,
retirement pensions, housing, nurseries, canteens, bathing facil-
ities, various kinds of subsidies both in cash and in kind and,
in large organizations, hospitals and schools. Because of these
benefits and services, workers became heavily dependent on their
danwei to meet a broad range of needs. Such dependence was
accentuated by low wages, the lack of alternatives, and by the
fact that there was no real exit option: job transfer was exceptional
and employment within the same work unit was more or less for
life. The danwei was therefore like a 'small society' encompassing
many aspects of the lives of its members. Within their 'small so-
cieties', danwei leaders were more than managers responsible for
production. Like heads of households, they were also responsible
for the welfare of their workers and their dependents. Manager-
worker relations were paternalistic and 'fief-like'.


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Review of \u3cem\u3eThe Assault on Social Policy.\u3c/em\u3e William Roth. Reviewed by Larry Nackerud.

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