The second volume, The Lost World of Social Democracy 1988–2015, aims at the civil society challenge to the welfare state since 1988. It opens with an overview of the three generations of comparative welfare state research, from Harold Wilensky to Gøsta Esping-Andersen, Theda Skocpol and onwards. The civilizing process and embeddedness of the welfare-industrial complex are then scrutinized as the simultaneous deconstruction and reconstruction of the once famous Swedish welfare state is elaborated with force and vigour. Finally, the cross-national Scandinavian differences are outlined. The five essays of volume II emphasize the historical relativity of social welfare institutions and argue against all developmental metaphysics.