THE NEOLIBERAL POLITICS OF THE CHILD: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND MOTHER/CHILD WELFARE, 1990-2012 PATRICIA BRETON A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN GENDER, FEMINIST AND WOMEN’S STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO JULY 2018 © PATRICIA BRETON, 2018 ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines violence against women, mothers and child welfare in Canada and Ontario from 1990 to 2012. It explores policy evolution during this perfect storm of intensified neoliberalism and the turn to the child in policy agendas, tracing the complexities of politics and policy at federal, provincial and institutional levels. Feminist political economy, feminist standpoint epistemology and intersectional theorizing provide a complimentary race, gender and class analysis of the structural and systemic inequalities encountered by women and their children seeking violence-free lives. Mixed methods of policy mapping, forty semi-structured qualitative interviews with state and non-state actors and two focus groups with abused mothers are used to connect policy to the lived experiences of abused mothers, single fathers, social workers, and managers. This study shows the decentralization of federal policy power to the provinces, the withering federal investment in income inequality, and the narrow focus on early childhood education bode ill for women fleeing violence. The restructuring of Ontario policies and practices around the at-risk child under the Harris Conservatives that continued under the McGuinty Liberals, depoliticized violence against women initiatives and retrenched colonial, gendered and racialized violence against women and children. Furthermore, the policy shift to the child eclipsed women’s equality issues, such as ending violence against women, redressing women’s poverty, and mitigating the structural inequality of women’s unwaged caring labour with children. With the rise of a child welfare state focused on child risk, objective managerialism, and failure to protect policies, social workers and managers supporting families criticize these anti-feminist policies and practices that promote the hyper-responsibility of mothers to protect their children to the exclusion of fathers. As women with children flee iii violence transition to single mother families, their futures are seriously constrained by state- mandated child protection work and increased state monitoring of their lives. Alternative visions for transformative change include hybrid models of state and non-state engagement that place survivor alliances at the centre of policy agendas and policy development. This gives us hope for a different future for women with children facing violence. iv DEDICATION For the mothers and activists whose stories of survival and resistance inspire me and my research. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I must thank all the women, past and present, who have shared their stories of abuse and violence. I have carried their stories with me since my early activism in the anti- violence movement, over twenty years ago. I am especially grateful to the mothers who participated in this research. Their stories of fleeing violence, seeking safety and support for their children, and demanding their rights to raise their children without violence are both heart- breaking and inspirational. Their courage to speak out against injustices fuels my passion for this research. These women are the reason I do this work. It is my greatest hope that this research will make a difference in their lives. In a similar vein, I want to sincerely thank the single fathers, social workers and managers, who participated in this research. They too struggle in this neoliberal vortex. Although very few fathers participated, I deeply appreciate them telling their stories and struggles of caregiving. It is so important to hear their voices in this larger context. To the social workers and managers, I honour your courage to bear witness to the challenges of supporting families in your work. Many have supported my journey of researching and writing this thesis. I am indebted to my Dissertation Committee for their ongoing support over many years. A special thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Janice Newton for an enduring and deepening mentorship over several decades of undergraduate and graduate research. Your critical insights and high standards of academic rigour, shared during long hours spent together on this thesis, have made me a better researcher, scholar and teacher. To Dr. Miriam Smith, a heartfelt thank you for ongoing encouragement and persistence to refine the manuscript when my energy and insights waned. Your support strengthened policy analysis in the thesis and renewed my intellectual curiosity in vi policy research. I also thank Dr. Andrea O’Reilly whose help profoundly shaped my broader thinking about issues of motherhood. I would not have been able to complete this manuscript without friends and family. I am grateful for the friendship of Eva Kratochvil and Paula Lang and their hard work and invaluable assistance during my fieldwork. The enthusiasm and insights of friends in academic reading groups and beyond the university have sustained my teaching passion and overall well-being on this journey. My deepest gratitude goes to all members of my large family-without your love and support none of this would be possible. To my wonderful daughter Karen and precious granddaughter Charlotte, I am eternally thankful for the constant reminders of the joys of life. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi Chapter One: Introduction: Women and their Children Fleeing Violence: Where is the Safety Net? .....................................................................................................................................1 1. The Federal Response to Violence Against Women: “Not Taken Seriously Enough” ...2 2. The Perfect Storm: Framing the Research .......................................................................4 3. The Study: Where Policy Meets Lived Experience .........................................................9 4. What are Scholars Saying? ...........................................................................................13 i. Violence Against Women with Children ............................................................13 ii. Mother/Child Welfare ........................................................................................15 Chapter Two: Theorizing Violence Against Women: A Feminist Methodology and Qualitative Research of Listening .......................................................................................................22 1. Feminist Political Economy and Social Reproduction ..................................................24 2. Feminist Standpoint Theory and Intersectionality .........................................................26 3. Core Concepts ...............................................................................................................28 i. Neoliberalism ......................................................................................................28 ii. Violence Against Women ..................................................................................29 iii. Motherhood ......................................................................................................30 iv. Childhood..........................................................................................................31 4. Activist Politics in the Research ...................................................................................32 5. Qualitative Research: Policy, Interviews and Focus Groups ........................................34 i. Mapping Public Policy Research ........................................................................34 ii. “Tell Your Story” Interviews and Focus Group ................................................35 6. Recruitment of Participants: Ethical Dilemmas ............................................................39 i. Northern Ontario .................................................................................................40 viii ii. Southern Ontario ................................................................................................40 7. Crisis of Representation and Emotion: Ethical Dilemmas in the Field .........................42 8. Tears and Anger: Emotion in the Field ..........................................................................44 9. Listening in New Ways: Qualitative Analysis ...............................................................48 10 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................50 Chapter Three: At Risk Children in Risky