Introduction

In his book Reclaiming social work, Ferguson (2008, p 132) includes a short section entitled ‘Reclaiming the ethical’. He writes in the context of increasing managerialism and marketisation in the field of social work in the late 20th and early 21st century – a period that has witnessed an erosion of practice premised on values of social justice and human dignity. This chapter is a response to Ferguson's call – made all the more urgent with the new public austerity that prevails in many countries following the financial crisis of 2008. In this climate of welfare reform and public sector restructuring, social workers are increasingly finding themselves expected to monitor and control the behaviour of the growing numbers of people who are poor, sick, disabled and stigmatised.

This article examines the growth of interest in social work ethics in the context of neoliberal policies and, in particular, the growth of managerialism in public service professions. The main characteristics of neoliberal policies are the promotion of free markets and the privatisation of public goods, along with a strengthening of private property rights and weakening of labour rights – resulting in a growing centralisation of wealth and power (Harvey, 2005). Taking the UK as an example, while drawing links with trends across Europe and other countries in the global North, the article traces the development of the ‘new public management’ (NPM) since the 1990s. NPM is characterised as stressing the importance of measurable outputs, targets, competition and cost-effectiveness in the provision of public services. The article considers the extent to which the growth of interest in ethics in social work is part of a progressive movement to offer a critique of NPM through emphasising the role of social workers as active moral agents working for social justice. Alternatively, the growth of interest in ethics can be viewed as part of NPM, with a focus on ethics as being about the regulation of the conduct of professionals and service users. The article concludes by emphasising the importance of reclaiming professional ethics for social work, outlining a preliminary framework for a situated ethics of social justice.