Radical Social Work

This much-needed textbook provides a fresh understanding of the radical tradition and shows how it can be developed in contemporary social work.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the seminal text Radical Social Work (1975), this volume has been compiled to explore the radical tradition within social work and assess its legacy, relevance and prospects. It is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduates studying social work, as well as social work academics and researchers.

Be proud to be a lazy radical! This textbook makes the case for a radical approach to social work that can be embraced by everyone. It's an approach based on real empathy and an understanding of oppression, of managerialism, of the moral heart of social work, of humanism and of the effects of neoliberal hegemony. Jane Fenton provides a model of radical practice for students and social workers who are committed to 'doing the right thing', and who want to develop their own framework for practice. This book will appeal to students who are activists, but want to frame their individual-level practice in a meaningful way, and to those who are non-activist and non-political but simply want to be good social workers. It will give a political and moral understanding of social work practice and lead to confident, value-based and enjoyable social work.

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book is full of analysis and ideas about how social work education can confront the individualising and often blaming form of social work that neoliberalism ushered in four decades ago.

This much-needed textbook provides a fresh understanding of the radical tradition and shows how it can be developed in contemporary social work.