Extract

David Garland is probably the most influential current analyst of crime and penal policy, and almost all discussions of their contemporary history are influenced by The Culture of Control in particular. So it is no surprise that his new book on the welfare state has attracted many reviews in criminology journals, despite saying almost nothing about crime. However, his work on penality has in various ways always emphasized the significant interdependence of punishment and welfare (not coincidentally the title of his first book). Garland’s brief but magisterial and penetrating analysis of the welfare state should, and doubtless will be, a major presence in criminology, as well as in social science and public debate.

The Welfare State is written with the sophisticated skill, scholarship and style demonstrated in all David Garland’s work. In its short space, it incorporates a definitive account of the history and meaning of the welfare state, with due sensitivity to variations in its form and the vigorous debates that have always surrounded it. In addition, the book constructs a significant theoretical thesis that is thought provoking, but also will no doubt prove controversial.

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