‘This is an important and timely book not least in considering the EU’s inchoate social regime alongside established national systems, that draws attention to the subtle, yet often neglected, ways in which welfare systems unwittingly distort the lives of their beneficiaries’ - Political Studies . Rethinking European Welfare provides a wide-ranging and innovative rethinking of the study of Europe and social policy and offers new ways of analysing European welfare and its future. Whilst acknowledging the importance of research and analysis of policy making in Europe, this Reader addresses a range of other challenging and provoking issues which have been marginalized or ignored in the study of European social policy. It will be essential reading for students of European social policy, social and public administration, social work, sociology, politics, cultural studies and European studies.