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In response to the current global crisis of capitalism, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government in the United Kingdom has imposed a policy of ‘austerity’, which seeks to shift the costs of that crisis onto the poorest sections of the population while seeking also to undermine the post-war welfare settlement. This article will explore the implications of that restructuring of welfare for social work. Even before the onset of the crisis, however, there was considerable dissatisfaction, both governmental and professional, with the forms of social work that had developed since the market-led reforms of the early 1990s. The article will critically assess official responses to that dissatisfaction before exploring more radical responses, including the need for a new collectivism in social work theory and practice.

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This article looks at the development of citizenship education within schools and assesses its impact on the school strike wave against the war on Iraq that took place during February and March 2003, in part utilizing interview material drawn from active strikers. Although citizenship, as outlined in the Crick Report, should have welcomed young people's active engagement with the political process, the overwhelming response of the educational establishment was to castigate and punish those who took part in the strikes. In conclusion, the article argues that the actuality of citizenship classes focuses on individual aspects of responsibility and moral education and had little influence on the engaged 'active citizens' who demonstrated against war by walking out of their schools.

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