Taking account of the political, economic and cultural changes that have impacted on social work over recent years, this book explores the challenges and presents the realities of practice. Using an international range of examples, McDonald makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the character and purpose of social work.

CATHERINE MCDONALD is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Queensland, Australia.

Acknowledgements
PART ONE
Preface to Part One
The Professional Project in the Context of Change
Modernity, Social Work and the Welfare State
Challenging Social Work: The Economics of Change
Challenging Social Work: The Politics of Change
Challenging Social Work: The Ideas of Change
Reconstructing Practitioners
Reconstructing Service Users
PART TWO
Preface to Part Two
Entrepreneurial Social Work
Evidence-Based Practice
Critical Practice
Global Social Work
Thinking Our Way Forward
Bibliography.