THE POST- AND THE ANTI- - ANALYZING CHANGE AND CHANGING ANALYSES IN SOCIAL-WORK

This article considers some of the issues raised by critics of postmod ern analyses of social work. It analyses the ways in which social serv ices departments have changed to a 'postfordist' organizational form a nd considers the implications for equality policies and anti-oppressiv e practice. It challenges the view that preserving a more professional approach to social work offers greater opportunities for anti-oppress ive practice than the more de-professionalized approach currently bein g developed and argues that social workers committed to the principles of anti-oppressive practice can develop new tactics appropriate to th e changing organizational context. It also argues that postmodernist a nalyses offer new insights into experiences of power, oppression and i nequality. In particular, it stresses the importance of understanding the linkages between broader, political and economic trends and the ex periences of individual social workers and service users. Drawing on r esearch in Avon Social Services, it considers the ways in which race e quality strategies in community care continue to reduce issues of race and racism to culture and identity. Reflecting critically on anti-opp ressive and anti-racist action it argues that the limitations placed o n anti-oppressive practice under the postfordist context of community care are unlikely to differ greatly from those felt under previous org anizational regimes.