The volume offers contributions from social sciences dealing with new challenges to the European welfare state. It includes new theoretical insights as well as empirical studies with a focus on one country or cross-country comparisons. The case studies include Austria, Belgium, Ireland, European Turks and the Belarus.
The authors are particularly interested in questions regarding the relationships between welfare state and citizenship, the conflict potential of different welfare regimes, immigration and welfare, conditions of solidarity in multi-ethnic societies, welfare nationalism as well as the welfare state in the context of a dictatorship.

The volume assembles contributions of renowned academics from several countries such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and the US. They offer two major perspectives on the subject at hand, comprising the national framework of analysis of citizenship, nationalism, conflict and welfare as well as the comparative perspective.