Martin Luther King’s final book, "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community" articulated a critique of the War on Poverty and related programs. Pointing to the inadequacy of funding and the lack of coordination among federal programs aimed at eradicating poverty, he argued for guaranteed income for all Americans.

On this 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, we revisit this program and its impact in the context of King’s argument.

The panel includes Martha Bailey (Economics)-- the history of the War on Poverty, Robert Mickey (Political Science)--the legislation from the perspective of race, Mary Corcoran (Political Science, Public Policy) -- gender and poverty, and Laura Lein (Social Work, Anthropology)--the effects of welfare reform on women in poverty. Deborah Keller-Cohen (Linguistics, Women’s Studies) will moderate.