ABSTRACT
Social work is often described as a 'new' profession, as it has been established for a relatively short period. One of the significant predecessors of modern social work was Victorian philanthropy. The marxist conception of the history of social work clearly seeks to relate its development to class struggle and the material basis of social life. Social workers are both empowered by, and obliged by, legislation and so they are necessarily agents of the state, and therefore represent the system's interests. The sociopolitical context relates not only to social work practice but also to the theories, policies and ethics which play a significant role in the day to day realities of dealing with clients. Existentialist social work is located between two extremes: the 'social work has nothing to do with politics' approach on the one hand, and the 'social work is the repressive arm of the bourgeois state' on the other.
