After the cuts and privatisation schemes of the past decade, the welfare state faces new challenges in the 1990s. Writers on the collectivist left, the individualistic right, and from schools of feminist thought claim that the state can no longer function as chief provider of welfare services. It is argued that changes in the economy, in the social structure and in patters of political ideology are bringing the era of state welfare to an end. In particular, growing inequality could with rising living standards enhances many people’s ability to pay for their own welfare services and undermines the sense of citizenship of which common provision must rely.

Social Change, Social Welfare and Social Science provides a critical assessment of these claims and of the sociological and normative theories used to support them. It argues that the case against the welfare state is not proven and explores the reasons why social science in the 1980s and 1990s has devalued state welfare as yesterday’s future. The book goes on to demonstrate that a forceful case for the welfare state can be made, and that this must include the advancement of women’s interests as an essential component in citizenship.

In presenting this evaluation of the theoretical, empirical and philosophical arguments about the role of the state in welfare provision, Social Change, Social Welfare and Social Science is essential reading for students and researchers of social policy and the sociology and politics of welfare, and also of interest to social workers, health professionals and civil servants.