' Theorising Welfare is very well written and painstakingly clear. It is an accessible and original textbook on the welfare state and the idea of welfare. There is nothing available like it in terms of its scope and intellectual sweep' - Scott Lash, University of Lancaster There are many interpretations of welfare and welfare states, each providing insights into different aspects of welfare and pointing to different possibilities for its future. Theorising Welfare provides a guide to these debates through an examination of seven theoretical perspectives - liberalism, Marxism, neo-liberalism, post-structuralism, political economy, political ecology and postmodernism - situating them within their historical and political contexts.