Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter 1 Social Work: Contemporary Challenges -- The contemporary climate: post-Fordist abyss or grounds for hope? -- Critical social work -- Marginalizing dissent in critical social work -- A poststructural turn in critical social work -- The poststructural orientation of this work -- Using social work practice to build critical practice theory -- What you can expect: an overview of the book -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2 The Legacy of Our Past and the Nature of Our Present -- Critical theory: the origins of critical social science -- The contribution of Hegel to critical theory -- Marx and the materialist dialectic -- Twentieth century developments of critical theory -- Critical social science -- Conceptual contributions of critical social science to activist social work -- The development of a critical approach to social work -- Critiquing the individualistic focus of orthodox social work -- Acknowledging the fundamental inequities between workers and clients -- The ideology of professionalism and domination -- The transformative agenda of activist social work -- The prioritization of the social structure -- From individual pathology to social oppression -- The development of egalitarian practice processes -- Strategies for change in critical social work -- The role of the worker -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 Foucault, Feminism and the Politics of Emancipation -- Poststructuralism: an overview -- The notion of discourse -- Foucault and the 'rules' of discourse -- Deconstruction -- Power: a Foucauldian approach -- From identity to subjectivity: the role of discourse -- Radical poststructural feminism -- The deconstructive project of radical poststructural feminism -- The body: Cixous, poststructural feminism and 'writing the feminine body'.

Rethinking politics: principles for action -- Towards a politics of detail -- Interrogating and reworking notions of change -- A focus on social practices rather than social identities -- From collective identities to provisional coalitions -- Towards open ended, dialogic change practices -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4 Critical Social Work Responses to 'Post' Theories -- Response one: reservations about poststructuralism as a counter-revolutionary force -- Response two: embrace of poststructural critique of the human services -- Challenging the activist embrace of Foucault -- Response three: poststructural theory and social work processes -- Representations of practice -- Power -- Identity -- Change -- Grounding the debate in practice -- A discourse analysis approach -- Researching as a practitioner -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5 Rethinking Professional Power and Identity -- Representations of worker power and identity -- Rethinking social control -- Practice illustration: social control in statutory child protection work -- The productivity of worker power -- Practice illustration: young women's anti-violence project -- The overt use of power -- The implicit use of power -- Participant ambivalence about the use of power -- Power and productivity: some tensions in managing egalitarianism -- Differences within the category of 'powerful worker' -- Social work and the 'problem' of professional expertise -- Differences and power -- Practice illustration: difference and the exercise of power -- Difference and worker vulnerability -- Rethinking power in activist social work -- Chapter 6 Liberation or Regulation: Interrogating the Practices of Change -- Interrogating critical practices -- The 'unconscientized' participant -- Critical consciousness: liberation and exclusion -- To be critical or not to be critical: tensions around critical perspectives in activism.

Oppositional and collective approaches to power and identity -- The forging of common identifications -- The suppression of complex power relations -- Power as domination -- Speaking to the Other -- Power and powerlessness -- The 'powerless' as authors and subjects of disciplinary power -- Moving to action in the public sphere -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7 Reconstructing Critical Practices -- Deconstructing the theory/practice split -- Social work in context -- Power in practice -- Power/knowledge in activist social work -- Deconstructing the powerful worker and the powerless client -- Beyond the heroic activist -- Strategies for change -- Critical cautions about post theories -- Conclusion -- Chapter 8 Conclusions -- Disrupting activism -- Reconstructing critical approaches -- Continuing challenges -- Conclusion -- APPENDIX Conversation Transcription Conventions -- References -- Index.