Social work in Europe: radical traditions, radical futures?

Increasingly the activities of social professionals are being framed within the exigencies of a mixed economy of welfare which promotes regulation and control rather than user empowerment. What has happened to the radical tradition within international social work? This article looks at current concerns and points to the lessons that can be learned from ‘radical social work’. It shows how the experience of service users is impacted upon by poverty and social exclusion and suggests ways in which a new radical agenda can be developed to promote social transformation