Viola Castellano is Senior Research Associate at the Chair of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Bayreuth. Previously, she worked at the Department of Education of Bologna University and at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning. Her research interests revolve around ethnography of institutions, welfare and migration policies, borders externalization and global inequalities.

“The book is very good … The work is serious, original, thorough, and solid. It represents highly skilled and serious scholarship.” • Halvard Vike, University College of Southeast Norway“The book is in an insightful and thorough analysis of how oppressive dynamics are generated and understood, and how inequalities intersect in the child welfare system in the US.” • Hanne O. Mogensen, University of Copenhagen

• List of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. Guilty of Being Poor: A Brief Itinerary in the Recent History of American WelfareChapter 2. What Does 'Racial Disproportionality' Mean and How Is Tackled: Genesis, Interpretations, and PracticesChapter 3. Revolving Door: The Work of Child Welfare in Making Parents Chronically UnfitChapter 4. Contesting Child Welfare: Perceptions, Negotiations, and Counter-NarrativesChapter 5. The Moral Economies of Community Participation: New Forms of Governance and Representative AmbiguitiesConclusionsReferencesIndex

Viola Castellano is Senior Research Associate at the Chair of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Bayreuth. Previously, she worked at the Department of Education of Bologna University and at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning. Her research interests revolve around ethnography of institutions, welfare and migration policies, borders externalization and global inequalities.

“The book is very good … The work is serious, original, thorough, and solid. It represents highly skilled and serious scholarship.” • Halvard Vike, University College of Southeast Norway“The book is in an insightful and thorough analysis of how oppressive dynamics are generated and understood, and how inequalities intersect in the child welfare system in the US.” • Hanne O. Mogensen, University of Copenhagen

• List of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. Guilty of Being Poor: A Brief Itinerary in the Recent History of American WelfareChapter 2. What Does 'Racial Disproportionality' Mean and How Is Tackled: Genesis, Interpretations, and PracticesChapter 3. Revolving Door: The Work of Child Welfare in Making Parents Chronically UnfitChapter 4. Contesting Child Welfare: Perceptions, Negotiations, and Counter-NarrativesChapter 5. The Moral Economies of Community Participation: New Forms of Governance and Representative AmbiguitiesConclusionsReferencesIndex