What Is the Welfare State For?

“Concise and superbly written, this excellent book is must read for anyone who wants to understand the welfare state.” Daniel Béland, McGill University

“A brilliant critical contribution and powerful overview about how we got here and what is at stake …. obligatory reading for those of us who align our work with the Global South through the prism of human rights, and the struggles of migrants and indigenous peoples in Latin America and beyond.” Camilo Perez-Bustillo, Saint Mary’s College of California

Professor Paul Spicker is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy in Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and a writer and commentator on social policy. His studies of housing and welfare rights developed from his early career and his research has included benefit delivery systems, the care of old people, psychiatric patients, housing management and local anti-poverty strategy and he has published widely in the field. He is a consultant on social welfare in practice, working for agencies at local, national and international levels.