Making the Politics of Poverty and Inequality: How Public Policies Are Reshaping American Democracy

Conference Panel Sessions

This invitation-only IRP conference will bring together leading scholars from political science, sociology, economics, and social work to present and discuss original research on the politics of poverty and inequality in the United States. The goal of the conference is to explore, not only how political forces shape public policies, but more centrally how public policies function as political forces in their own right. Building on exciting recent developments in a number of disciplines, participants will examine how public policies set new political dynamics in motion, affect the course of political agendas, and promote or hinder efforts to address poverty and inequality. Over the past few decades, federal and state policy initiatives have reshaped the political landscape in ways that have profound implications both for American democracy and for the economic welfare of Americans. Conference participants will illuminate these transformations and offer insights into how current policy choices are likely to shape what is possible and likely in the coming decades of poverty and inequality politics. The conference is being organized by Joe Soss, Jacob Hacker, and Suzanne Mettler, and is cosponsored by the Russell Sage Foundation.

AGENDA