ABSTRACT
Further, however, I will argue that it may no longer be appropriate to focus on the nature and emergence of modem social work to under stand our contemporary experiences. Increasingly it seems that we have embarked on a new era which many social theorists now refer to as post-modern. If so, in order to understand contemporary social work and how it may be changing it is crucial to analyse the nature of the post-modern and how this differs from what went before. Ironically, while Foucault may be regarded (Boyne and Rattansi, 1990) as making a significant contribution to post-modern social thought, the primary object of his analysis was the modem world. Thus while I will be draw ing, particularly in the earlier parts of the paper, on Foucauldian ana lysis, it will be one of my central conclusions that the nature of contem porary social work is changing in ways which are taking us into quite new areas. These cannot simply be seen as an extension of the practices which characterized the nature of social work in its modern emergence. However, the identification of what constitutes the essential elements and priorities of contemporary social work in this post-modern era can only be tentative. While it is unlikely that social work is being/will be transformed in ways which are unrecognizable, it is the argument of this paper that it is important that we address these issues and thereby clarify the nature of the task(s) for both those doing social work and those on the receiving end. Essentially the paper is concerned with trying to identify and articulate the realities of contemporary social
work and what can be realistically claimed on its behalf and expected of it.
