Welfare States: Construction, Deconstruction, Reconstruction (Elgar Mini Series) - Tapa dura

`This three-volume set collects together 63 journal articles dating from 1974 to 2005 and is an absolute must for any library, think-tank or university department serious about studying the welfare state. . . there is an excellent bibliography which will be helpful to anyone studying social policy. . . these really are splendid volumes and for some time to come they will be essential reading for anyone seriously interested in welfare states and welfare state theory.' -- Citizen's Income `Welfare States: Construction, Deconstruction, Reconstruction is the single most formidable compendium of welfare state writings that exists. The three volumes span all the main disciplines and the entire range of theoretical and empirical issues of relevance. It will, no doubt, become the point of reference for teaching and research alike. Leibfried and Mau must be congratulated for an Opus Magnum that is unrivalled in comprehensiveness and quality.' -- Gosta Esping-Andersen, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain `An awe-inspiringly wide-ranging collection of articles covering different aspects of the welfare state, different policy issues, and different analytical approaches. A must for anyone who is interested in a multidisciplinary approach to thinking about the welfare state.' -- Nicholas Barr, London School of Economics, UK `Leibfried and Mau have done a stunningly good job finding just the right pieces on all the important topics. . . Overall this is a truly excellent set.' -- Robert Goodin, Australian National University

In this three-volume collection Leibfried and Mau have gathered together the most vital articles about the welfare state and its `reformation' written since the mid-1970s. Their choices and organizing principles bring coherence and additional insight to these articles which, together, provide a comprehensive presentation of all the key empirical, conceptual and normative issues. Volume I, Analytical Approaches, comprises a history of welfare state theory, with essays on modernization, functionalism and the industrialization thesis, neo-Marxist theories, the power resources approach, managing and sharing risk, and polity-centred and institutional approaches. Volume II, Varieties and Transformations, begins with articles defining varieties of welfare states and then proceeds with essays on welfare state retrenchment and its roots, globalization, post-industrialism, Europeanization, and global social policy. Volume III, Legitimation, Achievement and Integration addresses the issues and challenges of the contemporary welfare state: its justification, economic results and entanglements, human public motivations and attitudes, multiculturalism, gender,the generational contract. Welfare States: Construction, Deconstruction, Reconstruction unites the work of some four generations of the most pre-eminent scholars of the welfare state in one cohesive, authoritative set of volumes.