ROBERT SYKES is Principal Lecturer in Social Policy at Sheffield Hallam University. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the British Social Policy Association and convenes its comparative social policy study group.BRUNO PALIER is Chargé de Recherches at CNRS, in the Centre d'études de la vie politique française (CEVIPOF), Paris. He is a member of the Management Committee of Cost A15, 'reforming the welfare system in Europe'.PAULINE PRIOR is Lecturer in Social Policy at The Queen's University of Belfast. She has a background in practice and management within social services in Northern Ireland and she is the author of Gender and Mental Health (Palgrave 1999).

• PrefacePART 1: GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGESChallenges and Change: Issues and Perspectives in the Analysis of Globalization and the European Welfare States; B.Palier and R.SykesGlobalization and Welfare States; J.ClarkeGlobalization, Economic Change and the Welfare State: the 'Vexatious Inquisition of Taxation'?; C.HayInternational Organizations, the EU and Global Social Policy; B.DeaconPART 2: EUROPEAN WELFARE STATE CHANGESGlobalization and the Bismarckian Welfare States; M.DalyGlobalization and the Southern Welfare States; A.Guillen and S.AlvarezWelfare and 'Ill-fare' Systems in Central-Eastern Europe; Z.FergeGlobalization and the Nordic Welfare States; P.KosonenGlobalization and the Liberal Welfare States; N.GinsburgCONCLUSIONGlobalization and the European Welfare States: Evaluating the Theories and Evidence; P.Prior and R.SykesBibliographyIndex.