Book Review: <i>Human Needs and the Welfare State</i> by Bent Greve

In Human Needs and the Welfare State, Bent Greve undertakes the ambitious task of addressing, in only just over 140 pages, some of the most intricate and profound questions underpinning the architectures of welfare states – namely, who are the needy and do we know what their needs are? This approach is reasoned on the basis of a perceived gap in welfare state discussions: although welfare state provision has expanded significantly over time and has come to encompass a varying but wide range of responsibilities, there has been little reflection on whether we truly understand who the needy are and whether their needs are genuinely being met.