103 CHAPTER SIX Thinking with Antonio Gramsci Introduction In 2017, to mark the 80th anniversary of Antonio Gramsci’s death, the Italian Cultural Institute in London hosted an exhibition featuring the original copies of his famed Prison Notebooks. According to the curators, this was the first time that the Notebooks had been exhibited outside of Italy (Italian Cultural Institute, 2017). The years Gramsci spent as a prisoner of Italian fascism (1926–37) amounted to ‘an eleven-year death-agony’ (Fiori, 1990). His ‘teeth fell out, his digestive system
Drawing on a range of theorists and competing perspectives, this substantially updated and expanded second edition places social theory at the heart of social work pedagogy.
This book imaginatively explores ways in which practitioners and social work educators might develop more critical and radical ways of theorising and working. It is an invaluable resource for students and contains features, such as Reflection and Talk Boxes, to encourage classroom and workplace discussions.
This new edition includes:
· An extensive additional chapter on Foucault
· Reworked and expanded versions of the chapters featured in the highly-praised first edition
· Revised Reflection and Talk Boxes
· New and updated references to stimulate further reading and research
The world has changed dramatically since the emergence of post-Marxism, and a reassessment is needed to determine its significance in the modern world.
First published as a special issue of Global Discourse, this book explores the theoretical position of post-Marxism and investigates its significance in recent, global political developments such as Brexit, Trump and the rise of the far right. With valuable insights from international contributors across a range of disciplines, the book puts forward a strong case for the continuing relevance of post-Marxism and particularly for Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s theory of radical democracy.
In this provocative new book, Peter Latham argues that the UK Conservative Government’s devolution agenda conceals their real intention: to complete the privatisation of local government and other public services.
Using illustrative examples from across the UK, including the so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and the Midlands, the book explains the far-reaching implications of the reorganisation of local government that is already affecting vital public services, including education, health, housing and policing.
Proposing an overhaul of the taxation system to include land value taxation, a wealth tax and more progressive income tax to fund an increase in directly provided services, the author argues that a new basis for federal, regional and local democracy is vital.
In this second edition of a bestselling book, the authors’ unique, holistic and radical perspective on participatory practice has been updated to reflect advances in thought made in the past decade, the impact of neoliberalism and austerity and the challenge of climate change. Their innovative approach bridges the divide between community development ideas and practice to offer a critical praxis.
The authors argue that transformative practice begins with everyday stories about people’s lives and that practical theory generated from these narratives is the best way to inform both policy and practice.
The book will be of interest to academics and community-based practitioners working in a range of settings, including health and education.
The gloomy prospect of climate change and ecosystems’ collapse calls for an urgent rethinking of all aspects of our life: how we work, produce, eat, spend, take care of each other, relate to nature, and organize our societies.
Prefigurative initiatives are attracting a growing amount of attention from scholars and activists precisely because they are envisioning alternative futures by embodying radically different ways of living in the present.
Thanks to the contribution of leading researchers, ‘The Future is Now’ represents the go-to book for anyone seeking a comprehensive, state-of-the-art, and thought-provoking introduction to the thriving field of prefigurative politics.
Recent years have witnessed a number of 'child protection' scandals where children, often from the poorest and most marginalised communities, have been on the receiving end of violence, abuse and social harm. In this short form book, part of the Critical and Radical Debates in Social Work series, Paul Michael Garrett looks at the impact of marketisation of social work services in both Ireland and England. He argues that marketisation has had a negative impact on policy regimes, working conditions, social work practices and on the services for vulnerable children and young people. Leading researchers from across the globe contribute to the debate and provide additional evidence from a range of policy regimes that catalogue the negative impact neoliberalism has had on children's services.
This illuminating book offers a fresh and contemporary guide to the field of sociology. By demonstrating the versatility of the sociological imagination, the authors reveal the ways in which thinking sociologically can help us to understand the personal, social and structural changes going on in the world around us.
Using real world case studies, the book addresses key sociological themes such as:
· global social transformations
· social divisions and inequalities
· social theory and its practical applications
· the personal and the political
Providing a set of concepts, tools and perspectives for analysing our social world, the book equips the reader with an understanding of how to start thinking sociologically. With helpful features such as end-of-chapter summaries, key definitions and recommended readings, it is an invaluable resource for students taking an introductory sociology course or those studying sociology at further or higher education level.
Social work education and interventions with Black African families are frequently impaired because of structural discrimination, racism and the structuring priorities of neoliberalism.
Rooted in rich and fascinating empirical work with practitioners and educators, this urgent, scholarly and accessible book emphasises that ‘Black Lives Matter’. Intent on nurturing more progressive and pluralistic practices in pedagogy and practice, the book is a timely and significant contribution seeking to re-make social work approaches to issues of ‘race’, racism and social justice.
2011 shook the world politically. The Occupy Movement, Los Indignados and the Greek Aganaktismenoi (outraged) reacted to zombie capitalism in the West, while the Arab Spring challenged political tyrannies in the Maghreb-Mashreq region.Democracy became the meta-question of the moment. New communicative technologies unleashed a tidal wave of civic protest that spread across the globe, bringing new political actors on to the street.
But what does this protest movement mean? Are we on the threshold of a transformation in global political consciousness? Is civil society the necessary counter-power that is democratising democracy from within? Or are we living through an apocalyptic terminal phase of civilisation?
In the second, revised edition of this indispensable book, the author looks behind the mirror of power and differentiates the real from the fake in policy and politics. It offers an original and compelling history of the present and will have wide appeal to a broad cross-disciplinary audience.
