The result of collaboration between authors from Canada, Britain and Australia, Social Work in a Corporate Era provides a re-evaluation of the assumptions and practices of the critical social work tradition and explores the possibility of rebuilding an 'emancipatory' social work. Calling for the development of a new politics of social work practice, this book addresses many of the urgent issues facing welfare state practitioners in health and social services today.

Linda Davies is Associate Professor and Peter Leonard is Professor at the School of Social Work, McGill University, Canada.

Contents: Introduction. Theory, Reflection, Emotion: The uses of theory and the problems of pessimism, Peter Leonard; Critical reflection and transformative possibilities, Jan Fook; Post-theories for practice: challenging the dogmas, Nigel Parton; Subject-to-subject: reclaiming the emotional terrain for practice, Linda Davies and Sara Collings. Cultural Politics, Language, Collectivity: Whose side are you on? politicized identities, Michele Gnanamuttu; Texts and power: toward a critical theory of language, Anthony Paré; The reprofessionalization of social work: collaborative approaches for achieving professional recognition, Karen Healy and Gabrielle Meagher. Narrative, Critical Consciousness, Emancipation: Older women negotiating uncertainty in everyday life: contesting risk management systems, Amanda Grenier; Disrupting the narrative of white tutelage: reflections on post-colonial social work education, Laura Mastronardi; Social work practice and research as an emancipatory process, Kamal Fahmi; A concluding reflection, Linda Davies and Peter Leonard; Index.