Elizabeth Bounds is associate director of the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta. She co-wrote the book Welfare Policy: (Feminist Critiques) (Pilgrim Press, 1999).

Harlan Beckley is director of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. He edited the book Economic Justice: Selections from Distributive Justice and a Living Wage (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).

Marshall J. Breger is a law professor at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His research focuses on public policy from a Jewish perspective. He edited the book Public Policy and Social Issues: Jewish Sources and Perspectives (Praeger, 2003).

David Fagelson is associate professor of justice, law and society for the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. He wrote the article “Rights and Duties: The Ethical Obligation to Serve the Poor” for the journal Law & Inequality (1999).

Fred Glennon is professor of religious studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. He wrote the essay “Renewing the Welfare Covenant: Covenant and Responsible Poverty Policy” for the book Living Responsibly in Community (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997).

Robert Wuthnow is director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. He wrote the book Poor Richard’s Principle: Recovering the American Dream Through the Moral Dimension of Work, Business and Money and was the editor of the 2006 Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. He is also the author of  After the Baby Boomers: […]

The Rev. Traci West is professor of ethics and African-American studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J. Among her specialties are welfare policy and justice issues in church and society. She wrote the entry “Agenda for the Churches: Uprooting a National Policy of Morally Stigmatizing Poor Single Black Moms” for the book Welfare Policy: (Feminist Critiques).

Mary Hobgood is an associate professor of religious studies at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass. She wrote the books Catholic Social Teaching and Economic Theory: Paradigms in Conflict (Temple University Press, l991) and Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability (Pilgrim Press, 2000).

The Rev. Thomas J. Massaro is dean of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif. He wrote the book Catholic Social Teaching and United States Welfare Reform. He also co-wrote the article “Compassion in Action: A Letter to President Bush on Social Policy” for the journal America (2001).