Radical Theory

The first chapter explained the growing presence of inequalities between the rich and poor in society, and their consequences in the UK and western democracies. This chapter will look at the theories that help to inform how social workers who understand and accept such explanations deal with their role in society in terms of a radical practice. That role, as indicated in Chapter 1, is primarily about managing risk within a managerially-driven environment. Anti-oppressive practice (AOP), its antecedents and its offshoots provide a basis for forms that challenge managerially-driven social work and so are discussed here. Ideas surrounding community social work practice, social pedagogy and other theories that also facilitate radical approaches, will be covered in ensuing chapters. Chapter 1 also explained the rise of social work in the welfare state up until the 1980s, and the critiques of the radical social workers of that time. This will be the starting point of this chapter, before we embark on a journey through the progressive theories that have emerged in the years since. These will be described chronologically as they became influential, but each section will also bring them up to date as far as their contribution to a contemporary practice is concerned. The coverage of and emphases within these ideas will reflect a view on their applicability in the real world of social work, especially in state or state-sponsored settings (rather than idealized ones).