Rhetoric of (Female) Savagery: Welfare Reform in the United States and Aotearoa/New Zealand

Kingfisher, Catherine

doi:10.2979/nws.1999.11.1.1

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Thirty years later Simmonds (2011) identified similar sentiments expressed by White health professionals working in maternity services provision, which continued to label Māori women as passive and complacent. Simmonds' (2011) findings revealed the mainstream construction of Indigenous women, particularly poor women, is consistent with a history of Indigenous peoples being associated with labels such as wild, uncivilized, backward and savage (Kingfisher, 1999). Just as poor Black women have experienced overrepresentation of media images associated with welfare (Kelly, 2010), Indigenous and other women of colour have been linked into a complex conceptual web of internal "others" (Kingfisher, 1999).…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This tendency is also prevalent in New Zealand. Negative labels assigned to Māori, argues Smith (2012), functioned in similar fashions (Barnes, Taiapa, Borell, & McCreanor, 2013;Bishop, 2003;Kernot, 1990: Kingfisher, 1999Quince, 2007;Wetherell & Potter, 1992;Whaanga, 1990). Used as an instrument of cultural invasion, education was employed to establish a mono-cultural society wherein Māori were to be Europeanised (Chile, 2006).…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 94%

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Are We Really Colour-blind? The Normalisation of Mass Female Incarceration

Norris

2017

Race and Justice

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The sharp rise in female incarceration rates in both the United States and New Zealand has received increased attention. Even more pressing are the racial disparities among imprisoned females. This exploratory case study examines 13 peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2016 to understand the nature of colour-blind ideology in discussions of female imprisonment in New Zealand. Several themes emerged including the homogenisation of female prisoners. Apart from moderately linking vast racial disparities between incarcerated White women and Indigenous to ill-defined colonial practices, contemporary explanations for the substantial racial disparities receive little attention. This article concludes that the absence of a critical lens toward contemporary forms and experiences of racism undergirding the mass criminalisation of Indigenous people perpetuates a colour-blindness that in turn works to normalise mass female incarceration. Even in attempts to be unbiased, the way race/ethnicity, gender, age, and class are discussed in academic research exploring female incarceration seems to reflect the influential nature of controlling images rather than critique them.

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Section: )mentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 94%

Are We Really Colour-blind? The Normalisation of Mass Female Incarceration

Norris

2017

Race and Justice

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“…Here neo-liberalism infiltrates the construction of welfare mothers through their lack of both their own paid employment and the family support of a paid worker (Skevik, 2005). Within this account, welfare recipients are portrayed as irresponsible mothers who are poor because of their unrestrained sexuality, and have failed to meet the ideal of marriage and the nuclear family (Kingfisher, 1999;Limbert & Bullock, 2005;Rice, 2001). Provision of welfare is understood to undermine the family and present lone motherhood as a lifestyle choice for young women (Fineman, 1991;Uttley, 2000).…”

Section: Neo-liberalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Health professionals' construction of welfare mothers can be considered as discursive practices, which involve claims that categorize welfare mothers in certain ways. What it means to be a recipient of welfare is socially constructed as financial assistance has many meanings (Kingfisher, 1999).…”

Section: Professional Construction Of Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The welfare mother is viewed as having developed in the way of care giving, but this is separated from their usefulness to the economic society by separating their usefulness to business. Kingfisher (1999) also noted that welfare recipients are not viewed as fully developed or fully individual; they are viewed as parasitic, rather than contributing to society. Welfare mothers are therefore viewed as agents of social disruption as they refuse to continue their education and engage in paid employment.…”

Section: Citizenshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A life of ease and immorality: Health professionals' constructions of mothering on welfare

Breheny

Stephens

2008

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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Mothering on welfare is often discussed as perpetuating disadvantage and discouraging individuals from meaningful social activity defined as paid employment. This is understood in the context of increasing commitment to a neo-liberalist agenda, where people are viewed as autonomous individuals in a market economy, and unequal rewards within this economy are due to individual failings. The discourse analysis presented here examines how health professionals in New Zealand construct what it means to be a mother on welfare within the context of interviews on the health care needs of adolescent mothers. Mothering on welfare is predominantly described as transgressing social norms, where a life of ease is an indicator of immoral conduct and personal value is determined through education and employment. The welfare mother is also viewed as transgressing the norms of appropriate family structures and the sexual practices sanctioned within these structures. The legitimate work of mothering is absent in these accounts while the life of ease and plenty on welfare is made visible. These discourses draw attention to the ways in which welfare mothers are disqualified from neo-liberal definitions of citizenship, and demonstrate how motherhood on welfare is regarded as undermining rather than contributing to society.

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