As an appraisal of the welfare state Abandoning the Poor argues that the welfare state which developed in Britain as in other developed capitalist societies, for thirty years after the second world war, represented a brief departure from a more ruthless form of social policy that traditionally characterised the state’s response to the poor and which re-emerged during the last two governments. By looking to the future Abandoning the Poor examines such issues as: the current dynamics of poverty in Britain, drawing on similar developments in Europe and the US. the major areas of social policy within which this abandonment and demonisation of the poor is taking place. the historical antecendents to this relationship between the state and the poor. the creation and expansion of a ‘welfare’ state that characterised the era of social democracy until the mid-1970s and from the point of view of the poor, was limited and conditional. the ideology and organisation of the New Right. the new terrain on which the struggle over the future of welfare and social policy must take place. It will appeal to all students of social policy, social work and sociology.