What: “Whose Welfare? Income Transfers and Economic Justice,” will examine welfare and welfare reform from legal, economic, public policy and historical perspectives.
“There is a widening gap between the people at the top and everyone else. The challenge is to change the terms of the debate, not just from welfare to poverty but from poverty to talking about how to get an adequate income to everyone,” says keynote speaker Peter Edelman. Edelman is a former assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Clinton. He resigned in protest after Clinton signed the 1996 welfare reform bill. In addition to Edelman’s talk, there will be a series of panels examining the intent of welfare, public perceptions, impacts of welfare reform and legislative strategies. Particular attention will be given to the current reauthorization debate involving the 1996 welfare reform bill, with panelists discussing recently published and in-progress studies of its effects.
When: Thursday, November 14, 4 p.m. (address by Peter Edelman)
Friday, November 15, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (panel discussions)
Where: Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley.
Who: In addition to Peter Edelman, the panel discussions will feature a variety of experts in the fields of public policy, law, economics and history, as well as activists and community leaders.