The Politics of Social Work (PDF)

`An illuminating discussion of the influence of postmodern trends on the practice of social work that also offers a bracing guide for the future of the profession. Social work practice, Powell argues, needs to be anchored in a commitment to an inclusive idea of citizenship, and especially the inclusion of the most vulnerable citizens'- Francis Fox-Piven, City University of New York

`[T]his is an extraordinarily useful book for studies of social policy, especially in its presentation of a condensed history of social work's relationship to social policy... The book is well documented, well written and challenging. It stimulates more thought than is common in professional literature' - International Social Work

The Politics of Social Work provides a major contribution to debates on the politics of social work at the beginning of the 21st Century. It locates social work within wider political and theoretical debates and deals with important issues currently facing social workers and the organisations in which they work. By setting the current crisis of identity social workers are experiencing in international context, Fred Powell analyses the choices facing social work in postmodern society.

Fred Powell explores in this text contemporary and historical paradigms of social work from its Victorian origins to the development of reformist practice in the welfare state to radical social work, responses to social exclusion, the rennaissance of civil society, multiculturalism, feminism and anti-oppressive practice. In conclusion the he examines the options facing social work in the 21st century and argues for a civic model of social work based on the pursuit of social justice in an inclusive society.

The Politics of Social Work will be essential reading for students on qualifying and post-qualifying social work courses, as well as courses in sociology, social policy, social administration and politics.