The paper starts out by identifying a substantial increase in the use of welfare state typologies within comparative studies. This has developed to a degree where many authors take it for granted that the world consists of a limited number of well-de®ned welfare regimes. This discussion took off in 1990 and it is expected to continue as an important dimension of welfare and social policy research long into the next millennium. It is shown that the idea of ordering welfare states according to ideal-typical models dates back to the late 1950s and was elaborated substantially during the early 1970s, though rather unnoticed. The publication of Esping-Andersen's The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism in 1990 is identi®ed as the starting point for what has now become a whole academic industry, here entitled the Welfare Modelling Business. Different typologies with different degrees of differentiation are discussed: should we consider welfare capitalism to come in two, three, four or more models? Though the differentiation into regimes is widely recognized, there have, of course, been many discussions about problems and shortcomings. Two major issues are elaborated: the one-sided focus on social insurance provisions and the simultaneous neglect of personal social services; and the parallel one-sided focus on state and market and the neglect of civil societal institutions such as family and networks. The paper concludes that welfare typologizing must take into account the kinds of programmes analysed: context matters.

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Denmark and the Netherlands are usually considered to belong to two different families of welfare states: the Scandinavian and the Continental model respectively. Yet, in both states active labour market policies, or activation, have increased during the  s and are currently prominent. Both in Denmark and in the Netherlands activation has been viewed as an important reason for the low unemployment rates which both states have experienced since the early to mid- s, hence explaining the so-called Dutch and Danish jobs miracles. The paper examines critically the activation measures taken in both countries and their alleged positive effect upon (un)employment.It further examines their effect on rights and obligations from a citizenship perspective. The paper concludes that in both cases the positive development of labour market performance cannot primarily be attributed to activation measures. Furthermore, activation has reduced the entitlements and increased the obligations affiliated with social citizenship.

Mass-wasting on the NE Atlantic margin is generally attributed to Cenozoic glaciations. Using high-quality 2D seismic datasets and two exploration wells, this study investigates the types and driving mechanisms of mass-wasting in the Sørvestsnaget Basin, Southwestern Barents Sea. The methods include seismic interpretation of shelf margin clinoforms, mass-transport deposits (MTDs), submarine channels and v-shaped canyons. The shelf-edge trajectory provided information about sea-level conditions, paleo-sediment routes, and dispersal patterns during the evolution of the basin. In terms of the internal geometry of reflectors, the major depositional units in this work are five sedimentary packages (P1 to P5) characterised by distinct southwest dipping shelf margin clinoforms. The seven MTDs here discussed have Late Miocene to Pleistocene ages. Miocene and Early Pliocene MTDs in the basin demonstrate a tendency for initial translation through canyons and channels. The youngest MTDs are composed of glaciogenic sediments remobilized by ice streams during large-scale Neogene and Quaternary glaciations. This work shows that mass-wasting has been a recurrent and inherent process in the Sørvestsnaget Basin from the Miocene until recent times. The main triggering 1 mechanisms for slope failure in the basin are increased pore pressure from sea-level fall and high sedimentation rate. Mass-wasting in the study area occurred through progressive, retrogressive and coherent downslope failures.