A new contract for social assistance ~ Ivar L*emel and Heather Trickey; Between subsidiarity and social assistance - the French republican route to activation ~ Bernard Enjolras, Jean Louis Laville, Laurent Fraisse and Heather Trickey; Uneven development - local authorities and workfare in Germany ~ Wolfgang Voges, Herbert Jacobs and Heather Trickey; Workfare in the Netherlands - young unemployed people and the Jobseeker's Employment Act ~ Henk Spies and Rik van Berkel; National objectives and local implementation of workfare in Norway ~ Ivar Lødemel; When all must be active - workfare in Denmark ~ Anders Rosdahl and Hanne Weise; Steps to compulsion within British labour market policies ~ Heather Trickey and Robert Walker; Making work for welfare in the United States ~ Michael Wiseman; Comparing workfare programmes - features and implications ~ Heather Trickey; Discussion: workfare in the welfare state ~ Ivar Lødemel.