ABSTRACT
“Small nations,” or “small peoples,” have been defined as those in constant confrontation with what Czech writer Milan Kundera says “the arrogant ignorance of the mighty.” Yet “the mighty” has never been a monolith: it was (and is) full of contradictions where “small peoples,” who were relegated to the margins and faced existential uncertainty, fought for their survival. I enlarge the scope of research on the “smallness” of polities by exploring the struggles within “the mighty.” I demonstrate how the late 20th-century United States became a contested space over social welfare, especially guaranteed income, where “small peoples” such as welfare activists raised their voices. These welfare recipients were usually regarded as part of what journalist Michael Harrington called “the other America.” Harrington emphasised that one of the cruelest ironies of social life in advanced countries was that the poor “[had] no face; they [had] no voice.” These women on welfare, however, got united, became visible and claimed their rights through a group called the National Welfare Rights Organization in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They fundamentally challenged the notion of charity and “the undeserving poor.” Simultaneously, they broadened the visions of the Black Freedom Struggle and the women’s liberation movement.
