One of the most contested issues of the 20th century is that of welfare - how it should be available, to whom, on what terms and by what means. The debate on welfare has taken place across the developed world, and has spread to developing nations: it encompasses a wide range of ideological positions and consumes a large proportion of the resources of states that provide it. This collection explores the ramifications of welfare and the state over the course of the 20th century, drawing material from a range of disciplines and with a geographical coverage across all the major developed countries. The first volume explores social welfare policies and systems, identifying the different concepts of welfare and rival typologies. It analyses the basic needs that need to be met by welfare, and the different approaches that have been attempted through history, and according to geographic location and ideology. The second volume looks at the heyday of the welfare state in the west, and the systems that were put in place, their objectives and successes. The articles in this volume examine the structures of the welfare state such as state and non-state bureaucracies, but also the widening contrasts between different welfare states and their outcomes. Volume three explores the critical scrutiny from a variety of different perspectives; feminist, neo-liberal, New Left, environmentalist, anti-western, anti-colonial and anarchist. The final selection of articles examines the different approaches to a new synthesis by focusing on new developments in the Far East, and alternatives to statism. The impact of globalization on the welfare state is also discussed in this volume, with articles speculating as to the future of the welfare state in the 21st century.