This set of essays engages with some aspects of Foucault's notion of governmentality,particularly at the junction where law/regulation meets 'the social'. 'The social', as a special sphere of government, is a special area of concern for those working within broad intellectual spaces of the 'governmentality approach'. Is it the basis of modern liberal systems of government? Is it dead, or even feeling unwell? Has it spawned hybrid forms of government like neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism, or even neo-socialism?