Welfare and foreign aid practices in the contemporary United States: A governmental study

Abstract

This article aims to expose the main governmental shifts in recent American history (1961-2000) by examining two programs: the Assistance to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the Agency for International development (US-AID). Through the ex-ploration of primary and secondary sources, we analyse the production, organisation and circulation of governmental practices in the realms of both domestic and foreign policy. In the American context, practices of government typically revolve around freedom, efficiency mo-dels and individual responsibility. Throughout the analysis, we find that the general critiques which have guided reforms and experiments in both areas converge around the same ele-ments. This testifies to the fact that the reflexions and technical models directed at the optimal management of populations are more far-reaching than they first appear. Moreover, the his-torical transformations in welfare and foreign aid practices bear out the increasingly disci-plinary nature of the administration and objectification of the poor, both within the United States and internationally. © 2011 Philippe Fournier.