This path-breaking text constructs a new way of thinking about social work based on contemporary social theory. Working in a counter-tradition that is suspicious of a number of governing ideas and practices in social work, it draws on themes from Beck, Giddens, Rose to explore the impact of risk society and neo liberalism on social work.

STEPHEN A. WEBB is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Sussex, UK.

Preface
Social Work, Risk Society and Modernity
Risk, Regulation and Neo-Liberalism
Security, Trust and Care Pathways
Direct Work, Knowledge and Intervention
Technologies of Care
Management and Organization of Social Work
The Practice of Value
Bibliography.