Dragged to Market: Being a Profession in the Postmodern World

Abstract

Under a regime of quasi-markets, UK public sector occupations are having to promote themselves as enterprising and argue their case for a share of public spending. Much of this takes place through the news media. In order to do this effectively, some kind of professional grouping is essential. The paper reviews the failure of non-probation social work to achieve a professional formation thus far. Rejecting explanations rooted in attitudes, values and gender, it argues that the core problem since the early 1970s has been the shifting nature of social services work because of central government policy changes. Now that the profile of social services tasks is more settled, it is time for social workers to abandon their reluctance to claim distinctive expertise and set about developing a more confident set of intellectual skills and thus an effective voice. In a postmodern age of sceptical consumers they need not fear elitism as they will, rather, be judged by their effectiveness.