Critically assessing meanings of the term 'public', this book situates the emergence and expansion of 'public services' within market-based forms of production and consumption.

David A. McDonald is Professor of Global Development Studies at Queen's University, Canada, and Director of the Municipal Services Project.

Chapter One: What's Public about Public Services?, PART ONE: LIMITS, Chapter Two: Our Bourgeois Public Sphere, Chapter Three: The Curse of the Continuum, PART TWO: POSSIBILITIES, Chapter Four: Redefining Public Services, Chapter Five: Within, Against and Beyond the State, Chapter Six: Measuring Success, Chapter Seven: Building a Global Pro-Public Movement, Appendix: Global Manifesto for Public Services