Examines the new social agenda of the European Community seen through the experience of the EC's anti-poverty programme. The text reviews trends in poverty and anti-poverty policy in the countries of the Community and offers an analysis of the effectiveness of specific anti-poverty initiatives.

The 1990s saw worsening rates of poverty in many EC countries and there are fears that the Single Market will, in some respects, only exacerbate the situation. At the same time, however, recent years have seen a revitalization of EC social policy, and through the agreements at Maastrict at the end of 1991, efforts to combat social exclusion have become a central concern of EC institutions. The book examines whether the "new poor" are a price that must be paid for the process of adjustment to the Single Market or whether they will be reabsorbed into the new forms of production and prosperity. It also looks at the possibility of unemployment merely shifting to different areas and therefore only reshaping the map of poverty. "Anti-poverty Anti-action in Europe" brings together analyses of European social policy, action-research and evaluation methodology and should be of value not only to international policy-makers, researchers and students but also to front-line organizations working to combat poverty.