Social Insurance and Social Justice: Social Security, Medicare and the Campaign Against Entitlements

by Leah Rogne PhD (Editor), Carroll Estes PhD (Editor), Brian Grossman ScM (Editor), Brooke Hollister (Editor), Erica Solway MSW, MPH (Editor)

Overview

"[W]e must tell the story of how social insurance programs have assured basic economic and health security for millions of AmericansÖ.This book is a must-read for anyone who cares about these goals."
-From the Foreword by Barbara Kennelly
President and CEO,
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

This politically charged, provocative text serves as an introduction to social insurance programs, examining all aspects of these hotly debated policies. The editors cover cutting-edge topics, including Social Security and privatization, universal health insurance, and how America's changing demographics will impact social security in the years to come.

Five key sections cover the critical topics:

• Social Insurance: History, Politics, and Prospects examines the foundational social insurance principles upon which Social Security, Medicare, and other programs are based
• What's at Stake identifies the risks posed to women, minorities, and the elderly if they could no longer depend on social insurance programs
• The Ongoing Debates on Social Insurance discusses public opinions of social insurance programs, and responds to arguments supporting privatization
• Critical Perspectives on Social Insurance Reform presents international experiences and policy trends, and analyzes reform movements from a social justice perspective
• Teaching Social Insurance: Critical Pedagogy and Social Justice presents pedagogical strategies to help students understand, influence, and engage in an informed debate about social policy

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826116154
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/23/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	488
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Leah Rogne, PhD, is Professor of Sociology at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Carroll L. Estes, PhD is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Francisco in the School of Nursing and founding and first Director of the Institute for Health and Aging (1979-1998).

Brian R. Grossman, MSPH, is a Doctoral Candidate in the Sociology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is an instructor in the Health Science Department at San Jose State University and in the Department of Sociology and the Graduate Program in Gerontology at San Francisco State University. He is a Project Associate with Students for Social Security.

Brooke A. Hollister is the national director and co-founder of Students for Social Security and Concerned Scientists in Aging. She is currently working as a research specialist at the Institute for Health and Aging at UCSF.

Erica Solway, MSW, MPH is a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a Project Associate with Students for Social Security.

Read an Excerpt

chapter

Table of Contents

"Dedication
Foreword - Barbara Kennelly
Acknowledgements
About the Contributors
Introduction: We're All In This Together

Section I. Social Insurance: History, Politics, and Prospects
Chapter 1: The Nine Guiding Principles of Social Security
Chapter 2: Social Insurance and the Right to Assistance
Chapter 3: Procession of the Generations: Are we Still Traveling Together?
Chapter 4: The Little-Known Origins of the Social Security Act: How and Why Corporate Moderates Created Old-Age Insurance
Chapter 5: The Future of Social Insurance: Values and Generational Interdependence
Chapter 6: The Medicare Modernization Act: Evolution or Revolution in Social Insurance?

Section II. What's At Stake
chapter 7: One Nation, Interdependent: Exploring the Boundaries of Citizenship in the History of Social Security and Medicare
Chapter 8: Why All Women (and Most Men) Should Support
Universal Rather than Privatized Social Security
Chapter 9: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise? Challenges to Income Security for Elders of Color
Chapter 10: Quality of Life for Communities of Color

Section III. Ongoing Debates on Social Insurance Chapter 11: Can Threats to Social Insurance in the United States Be Repelled?
Chapter 12: Social Security Privatization: The Institutionalization of an Ideological Movement
Chapter 13: A Normative Approach Approach to Social Security: What Dignity Requires
Chapter 14: Public Opinion and Social Insurance: The American Experience
Chapter 15: Restoring Confidence in Social Security: Our Obligation to Future Generations Moody

Section IV. Critical Perspectives on Social Insurance Reform
Chapter 16: Walker
Chapter 17: Pensions in Crisis: Aging and Inequality in a Global Age
Chapter 18: Federalism, State Taxation of OASDI Benefits, and Economic Well-Being of Older Americans
Chapter 19: Social Justice and Tax Expenditures Street

Section V. Teaching Social Insurance: Critical Pedagogy and Social Justice
Chapter 20: Make History Groundbreaking by Teaching Essential History: Putting Social Security in U.S. History Syllabi
Chapter 21: Collaborative Learning and Continuing Education Strategies to Teach about Social Security and Medicare
Chapter 22: Beyond Lectures and Tests: Facilitating Applied and Interactive Social Insurance Learning Experiences in Gerontology Courses
"

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In this work, leading scholars defend social insurance against the onslaught of market-based trends in Social Security and Medicare....[C]hallenging to many....Summing Up: Recommended."

—Choice