Unsettling Welfare addresses the changing relationship between social welfare, its 'recipients' and the state. In particular, the book explores the direction and the impact of the reforms of the welfare state that took place during the 1980s and 1990s. By focusing on specific fields of social welfare and social control, including health, education, housing, income maintenance, social services and criminal justice, Unsettling Welfare identifies general trends and the ways in which these are manifested.

Introduction Gordon Hughes and Gail Lewis 1. 'Picking over the 'Remains': the Welfare State Settlements of the Post-Second World War UK Gordon Hughes 2. 'Coming Apart at the Seams': the Crises of the Welfare State Gail Lewis 3. The Restructuring of Health Care Mary Langan 4. Thinking Social Policy into Social Housing Michael Pryke 5. Social Work or Social Control? Remaking Probation Work Eugene McLaughlin 6. Choice, Selection and the Social Construction of Difference: Restructuring Schooling Ross Fergusson 7. The Reshaping of Social Work and Social Care Sharon Pinkney 8. What Sort of Safety-Net? Social Security, Income Maintenance and the Benefits System Allan Cochrane 9. Managerialism and Social Welfare Janet Newman 10. Review John Clarke, Gordon Hughes and Gail Lewis, all at The Open University