This innovative book takes a unique approach to rethinking welfare states by considering two centrally interlinked issues: namely what is welfare, and what we should expect from welfare states now and in the future. Bent Greve critically considers thinking on the core elements of welfare states, how they should be ranked and how to recognise indicators of their direction of movement. Providing expert analysis of the historical development of welfare states and the challenges and pressures experienced both regionally and globally, this book argues for a new division of welfare states and a system for balancing old and new social risk. The investigation of dilemmas and the analysis of developing welfare states are particularly illuminating and informative. Greve provides a forward-thinking approach considering long-term stability and the challenges of inequality and poverty in different welfare regimes. He effectively combines new perspectives with attention to a strong public sector economy. With insightful new analysis this book will be an invaluable read for researchers and students of social policy and welfare states.

In a period of rapid change for welfare states around the world, this insightful book offers a comparative study of three historically small welfare states: the US, Japan, and South Korea. Featuring contributions from international distinguished scholars, this book looks beyond the larger European welfare states to unpack the many common political and institutional characteristics that have constrained welfare state development in industrialized democracies.

`I would encourage undergraduates students to read it, for it does summarise well a classical Marxist analysis of social policy and welfare' - Social Policy The anti-capitalist movement is increasingly challenging the global hegemony of neo-liberalism. The arguments against the neo-liberal agenda are clearly articulated in Rethinking Welfare. The authors highlight the growing inequalities and decimation of state welfare, and use Marxist approaches to contemporary social policy to provide a defence of the welfare state. Divided into three main sections, the first part of this volume looks at the growth of inequality, and social and environmental degradation. Part Two centres on the authors' argument for the relevance of core Marxists concepts in aiding our understanding of social policy. This section includes Marxist approaches to a range of welfare issues, and their implications for studying welfare regimes and practices. Issues covered include: · Class and class struggle · Opression · Alienation and the family The last part of the book explores the question of globalization and the consequences of international neo-liberalism on indebted countries as well as the neo-liberal agenda of the Conservative and New Labour governments in Britain. The authors conclude with the prospect of an alternative welfare future which may form part of the challenge against global neo-liberalism.

One of the foremost sociologists of our time makes a fervent appeal for clearer thinking on race, poverty, crime, and the underclass.

Rethinking the Welfare State offers a comprehensive and comparative analysis of social welfare policy in an international context, with a particular emphasis on the US and Canada. The authors investigate the claim that a decentralized delivery of government supported goods and services enables policy objectives to be achieved in a more innovative and efficient way, but at a lower cost. Secondly they examine the effectiveness of the voucher system as a solution to problematic welfare concerns. While this system has shown much promise in improving welfare, there have been problems for institutions unable to attract enough voucher-assisted consumers to ensure their survival. In this context, the authors examine major social programmes such as food stamps, primary and secondary education, post-secondary education, labour market training, childcare, healthcare, legal aid, low-income housing, long-term care and pensions.

This book provides an overview of the welfare rights movement, which occurred from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. The book highlights the movement's key events and figures, the movement's strengths and weaknesses, and how it intersected with other social and political movements of the time.