Racism, anti-racist practice and social work: articulating the teaching and learning experiences of Black social workers

In the mid 1990s a Black practice teacher programme was established in Manchester and Merseyside with the primary aim to increase the number of Black practice teachers in social work organisations, and in turn provide a supportive and encouraging learning environment for Black student social workers whilst on placement. In the north‐west of England research has been undertaken, to establish the quality of the practice teaching and student learning taking place with Black practice teachers and students. This paper is an exploration of the ideas generated within the placement process that particularly focused on the discourse of racism and ant‐racist practice. Black students and practice teachers explain their understanding of racism and anti‐racist practice within social work. From the research, the paper will critique some of the ideas concerning anti‐racism. In particular, it will question whether anti‐racist social work practice needs to be re‐evaluated in the light of a context with new migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. It will concluded, by arguing that whilst the terms anti‐racism, Black and Minority Ethnic have resonance as a form of political strategic essentialism, it is important to develop more positive representations in the future

Mapping ‘the ANT multiple’: a comparative, critical and reflexive analysis

Despite decades of development, Actor-Network Theory (ANT) continues to be characterized by a good deal of ambiguities and internal tensions. This situation has led to a suggestion that instead of one ANT it may be meaningful to speak of ‘the ANT multiple’. Following this line of reasoning, this article aims to create a map of the variety of positions riding under the ANT banner. Based on an in-depth reading of ANT literature, seven different interpretations of ANT are identified and subjected to critical analysis while accommodating for the concerns of ANT proponents about the way ANT has been previously criticized. The results of the analysis serve to increase the reflexivity of both sides of the debate about their underlying assumptions, and provide suggestions how ANT could be employed, developed and criticized more productively in the future

Once the shovel hits the ground : Evaluating the management of complex implementation processes of public-private partnership infrastructure projects with qualitative comparative analysis

Much attention is being paid to the planning of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects. The subsequent implementation phase – when the contract has been signed and the project ‘starts rolling’ – has received less attention. However, sound agreements and good intentions in project planning can easily fail in project implementation. Implementing PPP infrastructure projects is complex, but what does this complexity entail? How are projects managed, and how do public and private partners cooperate in implementation? What are effective management strategies to achieve satisfactory outcomes? This is the fi rst set of questions addressed in this thesis. Importantly, the complexity of PPP infrastructure development imposes requirements on the evaluation methods that can be applied for studying these questions. Evaluation methods that ignore complexity do not create a realistic understanding of PPP implementation processes, with the consequence that evaluations tell us little about what works and what does not, in which contexts, and why. This hampers learning from evaluations. What are the requirements for a complexity-informed evaluation method? And how does qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) meet these requirements? This is the second set of questions addressed in this thesis

Rethinking social theory

viii-224 hal; 24,5c

Rethinking social theory

viii-224 hal; 24,5c

A Sociological Study of the Social Work Profession with Special Reference to Social Work Education

Earlier work by Leonard (1966) and Heraud (1970) in formulating a holistic, comprehensive sociology of social work has been largely overtaken by developments both in sociology and in social work. Current sociological analyses of social work exhibit two distinctive features. First, relative detachment from major recent theoretical and empirical developments in mainstream sociology : second, a tendency to focus not upon the profession as a whole but upon specific, delineated aspects e:g the relation of theory to practice, professionalisation, social work education, professional socialisation, moral-political dimensions of social work, organisational and service-delivery issues, and the relation of social work to the welfare state. This research is addressed to the task of constructing a sociology of social work which draws explicitly upon recent developments in sociology, and which is concerned with the social work profession as a whole including the various components referred to above. These components are shown to collectively comprise the following three perennial and contemporary social work concerns which are empirically inter-related : the relationship of theory to practice, the politics of social work, and professional-organisational aspects including service-delivery issues. Particular though not exclusive attention is accorded to the relative 'centrality' of social work education : the research demonstrates social work education both influences and reflects wider developments throughout the profession and is a key empirical 'site of entry' for achieving a holistic sociological understanding of the social work profession. Much of the material necessarily is concerned with substantive issues in social work per se, but a vital part of the research is critical analysis of controversies surrounding paradigmatically diverse resources available within modern sociology for constructing a theoretically as well as empirically informed sociology of social work