UBLaw

Both mainstream discourse and the new, progressive "work/family" scholarship assume wage work in the formal economy as the key site for women's economic opportunities and achievement of individual independence. Much of the discussion focuses on the failure of labor law to address work/family conflicts, ignoring the experiences of poor women within virtually all countries and cultures. The goal of this paper is to de-center formal-sector waged work in the discussion of work/family tensions, and propose an alternative analysis (based on concepts of "caregiving work" and "subsistence work") which expands and complicates our notions of the types of activity that produce value for families.

A nationally recognized authority on welfare law and low-wage labor, Professor Williams focuses on the dependency created in low-wage labor relationships, and how the political rhetoric connecting "dependency" with receipt of welfare has diverted attention from the structural issues within low-wage labor markets. She has a long and impressive record as both an academic and a litigator in the areas of unemployment insurance, Social Security and related welfare programs. Professor Williams teaches in the area of social welfare law, and has written articles for publications including the Yale Law Journal and Politics and Society. In 1994-1995, she was honored by Northeastern University as the Public Interest Distinguished Professor.