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.

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.