Dr NICK ELLISON is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Durham. His publications include The Transformation of Welfare States ( Routledge 2003) and he is co-editor of Social Policy Review.CHRISTOPHER PIERSON is Professor of Politics at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of Beyond the Welfare State (Polity, 1998), Hard Choices: Social Democracy in the Twenty-first Century and (with Francis G. Castles), The Welfare State Reader (Polity, 2000).

• Introduction; Nick Ellison and Chris PiersonPART ONE: THEMES AND DEBATES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL POLICYGlobalisation and Social Policy; P.Cerny and M.EvansGovernance and the Welfare State; B.G.PetersSocial Exclusion; S.MacGregorResponsibilities and Rights: The Changing Balance; J.Lewis'Difference' and Social Policy; G.LewisPART TWO: EVALUATING NEW LABOUR'S SOCIAL POLICYEmployment Policy; D.FinnSocial Security Policy; A.DeaconHousing Policy; J. FordUrban Policy; R. AtkinsonEducation Policy; K. J. Brehony and R.DeemHealth Policies; C.GlendinningCommunity Care or Independent Living?; J.MorrisCriminal Justice Policy; T.NewburnTransport Policy; M.PagePART THREE: NEW CHALLENGES FOR WELARE: SOCIAL POLICY IN A NEW CENTURYPaying for Welfare; S.ReganThe European Union and British Social Policy; R.GeyerInformation and Communication Technologies and Social Policy; R.BurrowsEnvironmentalism and Social Policy; T.FitzpatrickGenetics and Social Policy; T.ShakespeareConclusion; Nick Ellison and Chris Pierson