Social Theory, Performativity and Professional Power-A Critical Analysis of Helping Professions in England

• Authors: Jason Powell , Malcolm Carey
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Drawing from interviews and ethnographic research, evidence is provided to suggest a sense of "anxiety" and "regret" amongst state social workers and case managers working on the "front-line" within local authority social service departments. There have been a number of theoretical approaches that have attempted to ground the concept of "power" to understand organizational practice though Foucauldian insights have been most captivating in illuminating power relations and subject positioning. In order to theoretically interrogate the relationship between social theory and professional power, we draw from the neo-Foucauldian work of American Social Philosopher Judith Butler-especially regarding Butler's (1990, 1993 and 1998) powerful work on "performativity" and its relationship to social work. We also attempt to examine the "distances" between the social work role and social workers narratives through an examination of notions of "anxiety" and "regret" in the face of the professionalisation of state social work.

Keywords

EN

Performativity; British social work; social theory; Judith Butler; power; Foucault; role displacement

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 78-94

Dates

published

2007-06-01

online

2007-06-20

Contributors

author

Jason Powell

• School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK

author

Malcolm Carey

• Faculty of Health & Applied Social Sciences, School Applied Social & Community Studies, Kingsway House, Hatton Gardens, Liverpool, L3 2AJ

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10023-007-0008-7