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.

Postmodernity
The End of Social Work?
Victorian Origins, Active Citizenship and Voluntarism
Fabianism, Welfare State and Reformist Practice
Radical Social Work and Radical Doubt
Poverty, Social Exclusion and Inclusive Practice
Civil Society, Citizenship and User Participation
Multiculturalism, Feminism and Anti-Oppressive Practice
Futurescapes

Fred Powell, B.Sc(Soc), M.A., M.Soc.Sc., Ph.D, has been Professor of Social Policy and Head of the School of Applied Social Studies at University College, Cork, since 1990. In 2008 he was appointed Dean of Social Science at UCC. Born in Dublin, he holds degrees from Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Edinburgh and University College Dublin. Previously he lectured at the University of Ulster. He has been an Instructor on the Extension Programme of the University of California, San Diego, and has lectured in the UK, Italy, Portugal and France. He is chair of the Board of the M.Plan in UCC, Principal Investigator and Chair of the PRTLI4-funded Institute for Social Sciences in the 21st Century (ISS21) at UCC and has recently been appointed Chair of the MBS in Asian Business, a joint venture between UCC, NTU Singapore and the Farmleigh Fellowship.