The strife for social improvement that arose in the decades around the turn of the 20th century raised the issue of social conformity in new ways: how were citizens who did not adhere to the rules to be dealt with? This edited collection opens new perspectives on the history of the emerging welfare state by focusing on its margins.

Megan Doolittle, Open University, UK Christina May, Georg-August- Universität Göttingen, Germany Olwen Purdue, Queen's University, UK Désirée Schauz, Munich Center for the History of Science and Technology, Germany Edward N Snyder, St. Olaf College, USA Tamara Stazic-Wendt, Collaborative Research Centre 600, Germany Sigrid Wadauer, Vienna University, Austria