In this dissertation I find that changes associated with welfare policy, federal devolution, and the global economy constrain service providers and communities, but that local factors in the two counties mediate how organizational actors adapt to these challenges. I use global political economic theory, organizational theory, and theories of inequality to investigate how local actors address poverty in their communities. Specifically, I examine through a comparative case study how government and nonprofit service providers in two North Carolina counties cope with challenges that derive from global and national levels as well as local factors to serve the poor. I rely on extensive interviews, observations, and secondary data. I find that officials in the rural county are severely constrained in their ability to address poverty, due to lower organizational capacity and very limited financial and social resources. The implications of poverty policy for rural and urban areas differ. Not only has inequality within place been exacerbated by recent national and global trends, but inequality between places is aggravated as well. Further, most resources in the urban county are used in ways that reinforce dependence on the low-wage labor market. In both counties services are disciplinary in nature, reflecting the neoliberal environment in which service providers operate. Only in some casesâand only in the urban countyâdo agencies address the marketâs inadequacies and general issues of class, race, and gender inequality. In fact, only when there is high organizational capacity, some autonomy, and significant embeddedness in the community, do I find local leaders who are willing to stop regulating the poor as should-be low-wage workers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-03082010-143335 |
| Date | 27 April 2010 |
| Creators | Seale, Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Edward Kick, Sarah Bowen, L. Richard Della Fave, Michael Schulman |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03082010-143335/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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