The Limits of Affluence

JAMES STRUTHERS is a professor in the Canadian Studies Department and the Department of History at Trent University.

‘…this is a superb historical account of the development of social welfare in twentieth-century Ontario. It is written with remarkable precision and clarity and, throughout, his interpretations are persuasive and convincing. It is without any doubt the best account yet produced on the history of social welfare in Canada.’

James M. Pitsula:
‘James Struthers acknowledges the complexity of the subject and does not oversimplify issues. This often requires a skillful balancing act as bureaucratic imperatives, political pressures, “the spirit of the times,” private social agencies, social work professionals, the unemployed, labour unions, federal-provincial and provincial-municipal relations all interact in the shaping of welfare policy. He is scrupulous in giving due weight to all these variables.”