Southern Exposure is an award-winning print journal and magazine published by the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, from 1973 until 2011. Southern Exposure earned a national reputation and won several awards, including a National Magazine Award and two George Polk Awards, for its writing and investigative reporting on a broad range of political, economic, and cultural issues in the South.

Vol. 19 No. 2 - Summer 1991
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Magazine cover showing Black family standing outside in front of a chicken house. Text reads "Punishing the Poor: Workfare programs penalize women like Linda Beard who rely on welfare to feed their families."

Punishing the Poor

  • Dateline: The South

    Compiled by Lane Windham

    2

  • Southern News Roundup

    4

  • The Lion Roars

    Is the nation's fastest growing supermarket chain feeding off its workers? By Eric Bates.

    8

  • The Numbers Game

    Shuttled into dead-end jobs, women forced to participate in the Florida workfare program wind up back on welfare. By Laura Udesky.

    14

  • Rural Roulette

    Arkansas workfare punishes more women than it employs. By Gordon Young.

    19

  • Red-Tape Blues

    Poor Texans ordered to work find themselves trapped in a bureaucratic maze that ignores the realities of poverty. By Brett Campbell.

    23

  • "Looks Like I Got Mad"

    Annie Smart has 13 children—and 40 years experience struggling against the injustices of the welfare system. Interview by Laurie Udesky.

    27

  • Fiction: Washaway Etowah

    By Lynn Pruett

    31

  • Southern Books

    39

  • Bailout Rock

    Bankers want a trillion-dollar handout. One grassroots coalition is singing a different tune. By Barry Yeoman.

    42

  • The Raider and the Coal Town

    How a hostile takeover on Wall Street polluted a West Virginia community—and how the town fought back. By Mark Reutter.

    48

  • Green Movies: The Bomb Squad

    Two Atlanta filmmakers working on a shoestring budget take on a nuclear bomb factory and earn an Academy Award nomination. By Steve Dollar.

    56

  • Green Movies: Speaking for Themselves

    A new film from Appalshop helps Appalachian residents document their own stories and struggles. By Anne and Graham Shelby.

    60

  • The Last Word

    64
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