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

Dr Iain Ferguson worked for many years as a social worker and community worker in various settings in the west of Scotland. He currently teaches social work at the University of Stirling. He is the author of Reclaiming Social Work: Challenging Neo-liberalism and Promoting Social Justice (Sage, 2008) and is a co-founder of the Social Work Action Network. Rona Woodward (1964-2014) qualified as a social worker in 1990 and worked in local authority social work services in London and the east of Scotland for 10 years, with a particular interest in children and young people at risk or in need, including young offenders. Having taken her MSc in criminal justice in 1999, she worked as a criminology researcher at Edinburgh University and taught social work at Glasgow Caledonian University and later Stirling University .