Iain Ferguson

Democratic language and neo-liberal practice The problem with civil society

English Social workers need to be wary of an uncritical acceptance of the concept of civil society. Despite its democratic veneer it is being utilized by international financial institutions and governments as a cover for privatizing health and welfare services both in the South and in much of the North. French Les travailleurs sociaux doivent se montrer prudents envers l’acception non critique de la notion de socié té civile. En dé pit de son vernis dé mocratique, ce terme est en fait utilisé par les institutions financiè res internationales et les gouvernements pour masquer la ré alité de la privatisation des services de santé et d’aide sociale dans les pays du Sud ainsi que dans bon nombre de pays du Nord. Spanish Trabajo social necesita ser cauto de la aceptació n sin criticismo del concepto de sociedad civil. A pesar de su apariencia democrá tica el concepto ha sido utilizado por instituciones financieras internacionales y gobiernos para ocultar la privatizació n de salud y servicios sociales tanto en el sur como en el norte.

Marx: alienation, commodity fetishism and the world of contemporary social work

This paper offers an outline of Marx’s concept of alienation and his later related concept of commodity fetishism. Building on previously published work on this topic, we argue that the lack of control over our lives and creative activity which for Marx defined alienation and which he saw as being more extreme under capitalism than under any previous mode of production has actually intensified during the era of neoliberalism. Through an examination of the areas of work, sexuality and health we examine the terrible toll that that lack of control and greatly increased commodification is having on our health and relationships. Finally we point to some ways in which an understanding of alienation can contribute to a radical social work theory and practice.

Reviews : Practising Community Development: Experience in Strathclyde Alan Barr CDF Publications 1991, £6.95

This is particularly frustrating since two of the countries Germany and The Netherlands have social rental markets that differ fundamentally from that in Britain, notably in terms of the existence of private rental housing that is social in nature as a result of its rent-setting, subsidies, and conditions of tenure, while in Germany there is also social rental housing that is unregulated. These two countries, at least, have significantly blurred the distinction between social and profit-oriented renting. But Emms does not pick up on this difference even though he is aware of it. He brushes aside this major structural difference, probably because he is not sure of what its implications are and how he should handle it, but more probably, I suspect, because his main interest is in the narrower issue of the management of problem estates, from his own British perspective. This book therefore represents a long research tradition, albeit one which CSP