Inclusion, Exclusion, and the Post-War Welfare State

Abstract

This review analyses the book Marginalized Groups, Inequalities and the Post-War Welfare State (eds. Monika Baár & Paul van Trigt). This book is an important contribution to the study of the welfare state, as it examines welfare systems from the perspective of those excluded from them, such as ethnic, gender, racial, and sexual minorities, as well as people with disabilities. Based on this perspective and by studying several Western European countries as well as international organiza-tions, the book provides an interesting view of the consequences of the welfare state – who it includes and who it excludes. Although the book focuses mainly on Western Europe and the United States, this approach to studying the welfare state from the perspective of marginalized groups is significant and can be used as a framework for analysing other regions and for comparative studies.