Working in Housing Aid

Abstract

'Struggles in the welfare state' will attempt to draw upon the experience of people involved in local as well as national struggles over welfare. While there are activist journals in existence, we think that Critical Social Policy will provide an additional forum, including both reports by activists over social struggles and supplementing the more reflective approaches adopted in other sections of the journal. 'Struggles in the welfare state' will be open to all our readers, with the proviso that all contributors broadly accept the editorial outlook of the journal. But we do not wish to limit the section simply to some criterion of analysis formed within the editorial collective, and we would like to carry varied sets of contributions, however short, dealing with the experience of working within, as well as being a recipient of, the welfare sector. We also welcome photographs and illustrations with articles. How useful and interesting 'Struggles in the welfare state' will be depends to a great extent on contributions from our readership, and we welcome discussions with people who would like to submit material at any stage of preparation. In this issue of CSP we continue our analysis of the restructuring of the social services from the point of view of the workers within them. Kevin McDonnell, who works in housing aid, discusses the increasing difficulties faced by 'front line workers' in the social services and the strategies which can be employed by socialists in this field. In this way he is extending the discussion of welfare begun by the London Edinburgh Weekend Return Group in In and Against the State.