Differences that Matter: Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada.

Beland, Daniel

Differences that Matter: Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada. Dan Zuberi. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006.

During most of the 1980s and 1990s, the future of social assistance-better known as welfare-dominated North American policy debates more than poverty and social inclusion. More recently, scholars and policy-makers have increasingly debated the status of the working poor, which is largely distinct from the issue of social assistance. In Differences That Matter, University of British Columbia sociologist Dan Zuberi assesses the impact of social and labour policy on the fate of the working poor in Canada and the United States. More specifically, he explores the life and working conditions of hotel workers in Seattle and Vancouver, two cities with a lot in common. The two pairs of hotels studied also belong to the same chain, which reduces the organizational differences between them. This is a crucial issue, as Zuberi stresses the role of broad social policy structures affecting the lives of hotel workers and their families in each country. Because these workers operate in a similar organizational and economic environment, it is easier to identify how cross-national differences in labour and social policy impact the working poor. Derived from a Ph.D. dissertation defended at Harvard University, Differences that Matter is based on the seventy-seven interviews Zuberi conducted. These interviews with Vancouver and Seattle's hotel workers generated evidence about the positive role of Canada's more progressive social and labour policies, which include work training programs, universal public health insurance, comprehensive unemployment benefits, and pro-union labour regulations. According to Zuberi, hotel workers in Vancouver are better off on average than their Seattle counterparts, who have more limited access to social policy resources like health insurance and unemployment benefits. Furthermore, Zuberi points to the positive impact of urban infrastructures like parks and community centres on the lives of hotel workers and their families. After comparing the impact of labour, social policy, and urban policies on the lives of hotel workers in Vancouver and Seattle, Zuberi offers a set of broad policy recommendations aimed at improving the fate of the working poor in Canada and in the United States.

Differences That Matter confirms the traditional progressive belief that comprehensive public policies can make a positive difference in citizens' lives, especially the most vulnerable ones. Considering this, it is not surprising that Zuberi formulates policy recommendations that support progressive taxation, welfare state expansion, and the liberalization of restrictive unionization regulations in the United States. Praising more generous Canadian social and labour policies, he would like the United States to develop a more comprehensive welfare state, among other things.

Overall, Differences That Matter is a well-researched, stimulating book offering a unique look at the relationship between social policy and urban poverty in North America. Although it does not feature an extensive discussion of ethnic relations, the book stresses the positive role of particular labour, social, and urban programs in the social and economic inclusion of immigrants. Most of the interviewees are immigrants, and Zuberi effectively places their stories in a broad institutional and policy context. This is why scholars interested in ethnic studies could find this book about the working poor and social policy interesting.

Yet this well-written book has limitations. First, the main argument about the positive impact of social policy on the working poor is hardly new and, overall, Differences That Matter does not make a bold theoretical contribution to the fields of poverty or social policy research. Its virtues are essentially empirical and methodological, and the theoretical discussion remains limited in scope. Second, because of the nature of the data used, Differences That Matter sometimes provides rather limited evidence to back the author's ambitious policy recommendations. A few dozen interviews dealing with a limited segment of the labour force (i.e., the hotel industry) may not convince readers who do not share the progressive creed that his recommendations are grounded in a systematic knowledge of the working poor and modern social policy. This is a common limitation of qualitative analysis, one the author is explicitly aware of. Only a combination of qualitative and quantitative research tools could completely illuminate this nexus. Third, some readers may feel that the policy recommendations represent little more than a "laundry list" of well-known progressive ideas that would inevitably lead to the expansion of the welfare state. Considering the scepticism toward "big government" present within American policy circles, Zuberi could have done more to explicitly dispel myths that authors like Charles Murray propagate about the so-called perverse effects of modern social policy. Policymaking is probably less about detached, rational decisions grounded in solid empirical knowledge about policy outcomes than it is an ideological battle in which powerful images and symbols are used to frame the controversial issues of the day. Against the constant flow of conservative ideas and images emanating from American right-wing media outlets and think tanks, Zuberi, like many other progressive academics, might be preaching in the desert. One could argue that what is most needed in the United States is the construction of a powerful social justice discourse that could unite the left. Zuberi seems aware of that issue, but only time will tell if his book could help frame such a discourse.

These modest critical remarks should not deter students of inequality and social policy from reading and engaging with Differences That Matter. As the appendix's biographical statement suggests, Zuberi is truly concerned about the plight of the working poor, and his solid research should serve as a powerful reminder that social policy matters a great deal for the most vulnerable workers in both Canada and the United States.

Daniel Beland; www.danielbeland.org/

Department of Sociology; University of Calgary