Cloward-Piven strategy

proper noun

The proposed strategy of using militant antipoverty groups to cause a political crisis by overloading the welfare system with an enormous number of claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper nounthe Cloward-Piven strategy
  1. governmentThe proposed strategy of using militant antipoverty groups to cause a political crisis by overloading the welfare system with an enormous number of claims, forcing the creation of a system of guaranteed minimum income.

Origin

Introduced in 1966 by American activists Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Cloward-Piven strategy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cloward-Piven%20strategy

MLA

“Cloward-Piven strategy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cloward-Piven%20strategy. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cloward-Piven strategy,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cloward-Piven%20strategy.

Source: Cloward-Piven strategy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.