From the mid-eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century, the English Old Poor Law was waning, soon to be replaced by the New Poor Law and its dreaded wo

This edited volume brings together a range of scholars working on both the New Poor Law and the history of asylums. At its core is the pauper voice and pauper e

This collection explores the multifaceted relationship between letters and bodies in the long eighteenth century, featuring a broad selection of women's and men

This book represents the first attempt to identify and describe a workhouse reform ‘movement’ in mid- to late-nineteenth-century England, beyond the obvious

The Western welfare state model is beset with structural, financial, and moral crises. So-called scroungers, cheats, and disability fakers persistently occupy t