Brutal Need: Lawyers and the Welfare Rights Movement, 1960-1973 (Revised)

During the 1960s a new breed of "poverty lawyers"-in collaboration with welfare recipient activists-mounted a legal campaign to create a constitutional right to welfare. The collaboration worked significant changes in the social welfare system of the United States and in the scope of individual constitutional rights. In this first in-depth account, Martha F. Davis tells the behind-the-scenes story of the strategies, successes, failures, and frustrations of that important campaign. "[A] succinct and elegant book, Brutal Need enriches today's impoverished discussion of welfare reform."-Linda Gordon, Nation "In lucid prose, Davis tells the compelling story of the sometimes difficult but inspiring and pioneering 1960s alliance between lawyers and welfare rights activists. This book is both a good read and good history."-Frances Fox Piven, coauthor of Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare "Brutal Need is a magnificent book. It combines sophisticated analysis of legal principles defining the rights of the poor, a rich social history of the organization of poor people in the 1960s, and gripping biographies of the leading participants in the often neglected social movement. It is a pleasure to read this lucid book. Davis provides insight, even to a person who participated in the events she describes."-Sylvia Law, New York University School of Law "An accurate, informative, and highly readable book on a fascinating topic."-Shep Melnick, Brandeis University Winner of a 1994 American Bar Association Certificate of Merit Award