The Social Work Action Network - A Radical Campaigning Network Within Social Work

News and Updates:

• SWAN has put together a booklet on debates and issues raised by the Baby P events. The booklet runs to 116 pages and includes contributions from leading social work academics (including Peter Beresford, Sue White, Chris Jones), frontline workers, service users and trade union officials (from both Unison and Aspect). The contributions are all a response to a lead article by Iain Ferguson and Michael Lavalette. Click her to download the ordering form.
• SWAN, in conjunction with Liverpool Hope University, are organising a special one-day conference to mark the 35th anniversary of the publication of Bailey and Brake’s book ‘Radical Social Work’. The conference will be held in Liverpool on Wednesday 3 February. Roy Bailey will open the conference and other confirmed speakers include: Mary Langan, Chris Jones, Peter Beresford, Sarah Banks, Charlotte Williams, Iain Ferguson, Mark Baldwin, Laura Penketh, Jeremy Weinstein and Michael Lavalette. To get more details and an on-line booking form click here.
• The most recent articles on the site can be accessed via the ‘Blog’ link at the top of the page. Recent articles are on the Task Force and Social Work and Climate Change

Who Are the Social Work Action Network?

SWAN is a loose network of social work practitioners, academics, students and social welfare service users united in their concern that social work activity is being undermined by managerialism and marketisation, by the stigmatisation of service users and by welfare cuts and restrictions.

We believe that good social work is a worthwhile activity that can help people address the problems and difficulties in their lives. Many of these difficulties are rooted in the inequalities and oppressions of the modern world and good social work necessarily involves confronting such structural and public causes of so many private ills.

The Social Work Manifesto

SWAN developed from the Social Work Manifesto, written by Jones, Ferguson, Lavalette and Penketh in 2004. The Manifesto is the basis for our understanding of the present difficulties facing social work. Russian, Chinese, Japanese,Spanish, Greek and English versions of the Manifesto are available on this site (see the button at the top of the page).

SWANs activities are varied. We hold regional and local meetings and once a year we hold an annual conference. The annual conference is not primarily an academic conference. We want to provide a forum where service users, students, practitioners and academics can meet, discuss and debate current problems facing the profession. We recognise that we have much to learn from (some) politicians, journalists, and writers and academics in related fields- and we positively encourage their participation at our events.

The annual conference elects a SWAN national steering group whose main task is to organise the following years conference.

SWAN is not an alterative to existing social work trade unions. We are proud that social work trade unionists have played an active part in SWAN and want to develop this link in the future.
SWAN is keen to encourage local groups and supporters to set up their own events. These can be advertised on the site and the national steering group will provide as much help as possible to make local events a success.

We believe that social work is a profession worth fighting for.

Join the debate!

If you would like to start a discussion on the SWAN website please email your contribution to Vassilis, Michael, Iain or Barrie.We will publish all contributions providing they are relevant to discussion of social work, youth work, social care or welfare - and providing they avoid all hate language .

Unfortunately the SWAN email address has been hacked into and passwords and access details changed. Apologies if anyone has written recently and not had a reply. In the meantime please contact Vassilis at  ioakimv@hope.ac.uk