This is an engaging collection of 20 primary sources that provide insights into different approaches to social welfare from around Europe in the long 20th century, focusing particularly on marginalized groups. Each chapter sheds light on a case of collective welfare action, and includes translated archival documents, alongside commentary that contextualises each case, and examines its socio-political underpinnings. This volume explores sources from 12 European countries, capturing historical approaches to collective action, and encompassing a plethora of welfare issues – such as religious and secular philanthropy, youth protection, gender history, and campaigns for prison reform. The result is a detailed study of the social welfare state in Europe. With every source accompanied by an analysis of the ideas, ambitions, and practices of the actors themselves, in addition to an exploration of the larger regional context that influenced each pattern of collective mobilization, the editors highlight the distinction between the social and the political that underlies many forms of action undertaken in the field. Using the idea of ‘unpolitical politics’ as a new lens through which to explore the development of social welfare in a number of European contexts, this volume analyses who and what purports to be ‘neutral’, and why.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction, Efi Avdela (University of Crete, Greece.), Clarisse Bertheze`ne (University of Paris, France), Laura Lee Downs (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France, and European University Institute, Italy)., Dominika Gruziel (European University Institute, Italy, and Dimitra Lampropoulou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) 1. The Societies of Saint Vincent de Paul, Province of Posen in the German Empire, at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Dominika Gruziel (European University Institute, Italy) 2. Lydia von Wolfring on Child and Youth Protection, Vienna, Early Twentieth Century, Maria Papathanasiou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) 3. Women Workers of Home Mission in Lapland, Finland, Early Twentieth Century, Pirjo Markkola (Tampere University, Finland) 4. The ‘Dawn’, the First Philanthropic Association of Muslim Women in Sarajevo, 1919, Fabio Giomi (L’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris) 5. National Council of Italian Women versus Union of Italian Catholic Women in the 1920s, Anne Cova (Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, ICS-ULisboa, Portugal) 6. Juana Salas’s Plea for Women’s Political Involvement in Local Government, Spain, 1920s, Inmaculada Blasco Herranz (University of La Laguna, Spain) 7. The National Association For Assistance to Redeemed Italy in Interwar Trieste, Laura Downs (European University Institute, Italy) 8. The Voluntary Association ‘Protectors of the Girls’ in Zagreb, 1930s, Stefano Petrungaro (Universita` Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Italy) 9. Mural Art, Municipalities and Social Protection in France, 1930s, Elena Rizzi (Università Bocconi, Italy) 10. The Istanbul Tuberculosis League, Turkey, from 1920s to early 1950s, Léa Delmaire (Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po, France) 11. The Nationalist Organization ‘Work and Leisure’, France, between 1930 and 1947, Laura Lee Downs (European University Institute, Italy) 12. The British Conservative Party and the Women’s Voluntary Services, from 1938 to 1948, Clarisse Berthezène (Univeristé Paris Cité, France) 13. Socio-Political Agents of Welfare and the Reception of ?Social Security', Italy, between 1943 and 1948, Michele Mioni (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France) 14. Welfare and Dissemination in the Women’s Section of the Falange, Spain, from 1940s to 1960s, Angela Cenarro (Univesity of Zaragoza, Spain) 15. The ‘Club of Volunteers’, under the High Protection of her Majesty the Queen, Greece, 1950s and 1960s, Efi Avdela (University of Crete, Greece) and Dimitra Lampropoulou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) 16. The ‘Athens Union of Families of Political Exiles and Prisoners’, Greece, between 1958 and 1967, Dimitra Lampropoulou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) 17. A Debate on ‘Mental Hygiene’ in Postwar Greece, between 1959 and 1962, Despo Kritsotaki (Cermes3 / Academy of Athens, Greece) 18. Child Care, Local Communities and Self-Management in Socialist Yugoslavia, 1970s, Ana Kladnik (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) 19. The Catholic Council for Social Welfare in Ireland, 1970s, Carole Holohan (Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland) 20. The Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas: Campaigning on Behalf of Irish Prisoners Abroad, 1970s and 1980s, Patricia Kennedy (University College Cork, Republic of Ireland) 21. ‘Cherish’ and the Support of Single Mothers in Ireland, 1970s and 1980s, Lindsey Earner-Byrne (Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland) 22. ‘Women in Black’, Belgrade, 1990s, Adriana Zaharijevic (University of Belgrade, Serbia) Bibliography Index