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Social Work in Movement: Marketisation, Differentiation and Managerial Performativity in Sweden and England
UEL Royal Docks Business School, University of East London, Docklands Campus, UK.
Department of Mental Health, Social Work & Integrative Medicine, School of Health & Education, Middlesex University, UK.
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Business Administration, Technology and Social Sciences, Human Work Science.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2350-2623
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Business Administration, Technology and Social Sciences, Human Work Science. UEL Royal Docks Business School, University of East London, Docklands Campus, UK.
2015 (English)In: International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice, ISSN 2332-6832, Vol. 3, no 3, p. 109-117Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article considers the changing nature of social work in England and Sweden in the context of neoliberal reforms, and the consequences of the ongoing shifts to marketisation and differentiation, managerialism and performativity. Drawing on secondary sources and some interview data from English and Swedish social workers, the article argues that social workers in England and Sweden face similar shifts as marketisation, differentiation, managerialism and its related performativity reshape the occupation, all related to the influence of the macro-context of neoliberalism. ‘Evidence based practice' has become elevated as an important approach in line with increasing managerialism and performativity, affecting micro processes of everyday working life. Differences between the two countries lie largely in the timing of reforms and how social workers respond to them in organised ways – through mobilisation within the profession in England and through trades unions and local authorities in Sweden. The changes create uncertainty for social workers; while they are not merely passive victims of change they face difficult conditions in which to forge alternative models of professional practice. Contrary to what might have been expected, given the different social, political and historical legacies in Sweden and England of social democracy and liberalism respectively, comparing the social work occupation in these two countries finds many more similarities than differences in how marketisation, differentiation, managerialism and performativity impact on the occupation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 3, no 3, p. 109-117
Keywords [en]
Social Work, Sweden, England, Marketisation, Performativity, Managerialism, Identities
National Category
Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
Research subject
Industrial Work Environment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-6217DOI: 10.13189/ijrh.2015.030302Local ID: 469b101b-b018-4c23-8a16-d915cc2b26c3OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-6217DiVA, id: diva2:979094
Note

Godkänd; 2015; 20150730 (elbe)

Available from: 2016-09-29 Created: 2016-09-29 Last updated: 2022-08-30Bibliographically approved

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Berg, ElisabethBarry, Jim

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