The political identity of social workers in neoliberal times

Neoliberalism has achieved a hegemonic position within social work, with consecutive governments extending the role of the market in welfare provision. This article explores these developments from the perspective of the political identity of 14 qualified social workers who are members of one of the UK’s parliaments and councils, as well as engaged in political activism. It delineates the development of their social reformist political identity from their earliest days and considers the impact of facing the neoliberal dilemma in social work. The participants engaged in biographical interviews that traced the development of their political identity throughout their life course to date. The findings include: how embeddedness in politically engaged families forged strong political identities; how the skills acquired in social work were extremely useful in their political careers; and how the participants have managed to maintain a strong social work identity and resisted neoliberal austerity measures in their political careers.