The welfare state is being subjected to fundamental re-appraisal. It is now commonly argued that modern Western societies require a new 'moral economy' in which responsibility for welfare and social care is shifted from the state to the family and community. This text critically assesses the range of academic and political debates around the questions such a shift raises, exploring how far social solidarity is possible when social inequality has become so in evidence in the last two decades of the twentieth century.About the Author: JOHN J RODGER is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at Paisley University, Scotland. He is the author of Family Life and Social Control: A Sociological Perspective.JOHN J RODGER is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at Paisley University, Scotland. He is the author of Family Life and Social Control: A Sociological Perspective.