REVIEW
A U S T R A L IA N WELFARE
HISTORY: CRITICAL ESSAYS
R i c h a r d Ke n n e d y , edi t or .
MacMillan Australia. 332 pp
including index. $13.95 paper.
Reviewed by
B rian
McGahen
20
agencies of the w elfare state.
1 was stu d y in g S ocial
W ork at S ydney U n ive rsity
B ut despite th is there is a great deal
we had an A m erican te x t on in these c o n trib u tio n s fo r p ra ctising
social theory, w h ich in its in tro d u c tio n social w o rke rs and indeed fo r all those
stated a u th o rita tiv e ly th a t there are no interested in how "w e lfa re " has
h isto rica l laws d e te rm in in g social developed as a central lever o f social
developm ent. H aving th u s dism issed c o n tro l in co n te m p o ra ry capitalism .
E lizabeth W in d s c h u ttle and Ju d ith
m arxism in one o r tw o sentences it
G odden in separate chapters exam ine
w e n t on fo r ch a p te r after in te rm in a b le
the role of w om en in the p h ila n th ro p ic
c h a p te r in t e r p r e t in g a ll h u m a n
a ssociations of n ineteenth ce n tu ry
societies in term s o f 1960s A m erican
A ustralia. The g ro w in g u n d e rstanding
liberal pluralism .
R ichard K ennedy's c o lle c tio n o f o f how w elfare w o rk has been cast
id e o lo g ic a lly as 'w o m e n 's w o rk ' is very
essays, w h ich is designed fo r use in
un iv e rs ity social w o rk courses, is a far im p o rta n t to so c ia lis t w elfare w orkers
c ry fro m the conservative hum bug to d a y in fig h tin g a gainst re a ctiona ry
w h ic h passed as edu ca tio n m aterial fo r moves to cu t w elfare services by
social w o rke rs less than a decade ago. p u ttin g the burden back o n to w om en
w h o a re p re s e n te d as 'n a tu r a l'
T a kin g as th e ir basis a so c ia lis t c ritiq u e
o f w elfare, the eleven c o n trib u to rs v o lu n ta ry carers.
A num ber of chapters deal w ith the
develop progressive e xp la na tio n s o f a
nu m b e r o f aspects o f the present role o f the ALP in the d e velopm ent of
state w elfare policies. A c o n trib u tio n
A u s tra lia n w elfare state.
by D rew C ottle a nalysing the role of
S o c ia l w o r k d e p a r t m e n t s a t
A u stra lia n universities have been the the ALP in the la b o r m ovem ent from
1941 to 1945 is e xtre m e ly in s ig h tfu l in
scene o f m any s tru g g le s between
1983 w hen an o th e r la b o r gove rn m ent
stu d e n ts and staff, as the stu d e n ts'
desire fo r relevant e d u ca tio n ran in to speaks o f national re c o n c ilia tio n and
re c o n s tru c tio n w h ile the burden of
the deep-seated conservatism and
e litism o f the social w o rk profession. c a p ita lis t e co n o m ic crisis is ca rried by
M any o f the chapters in th is book, by th e w o rk in g class.
Les Louis looks in detail a tth e fa ilu re
people from a variety o f professional
b a c k g ro u n d s , c o n ta in tr e n c h a n t o f trade unions in V ic to ria to fig h t fo r
c ritic is m s o f the th e o ry and p ra ctice o f the unem ployed in the 1930s. He
tr a d it io n a l s o c ia l w o rk . W in to n
details the system atic s e ll-o u t o f the
H iggins, in an e xce lle n t ch a p te r u n e m p lo y e d to th e th e n L a b o r
a n a lysin g the c a p ita list w elfare state, g o v e rn m e n t by r e fo r m is t u n io n
leaders. O nce again m any past
describes tra d itio n a l social w o rk
th e o ry thus:
scenarios seem c h illin g ly fa m ilia r.
...it tends to be a h o d g e p o d g e o f
U n f o r t u n a t e l y n o n e o f th e
+£ * r : h r i i Q l J G C '
n r t '" *
' q r* i n r t s* r\ * '
t h n
c o n t r ib u t o r s m e n tio n th e m o s t
elem ents o f w hich s u ffe r fro m the s ig n ific a n t d e velopm ent in A u stralian
w elfare over the last decade — the
u su a l fa ilin g s o f b o u rg e o is d isciplines,
c o m p a rtm e n ta lis a tio n o f kn o w le d g e o rg a n isa tio n o f w elfare w o rke rs in to a
and fa ilu re
to m ake th e o re tic a l iia u ti union. In New S outh W ales this
un io n is p laying an active role in the
u n d e rp in n in g s le t alone class biases.
W ith such a weak and e ssentially la b o r m ovem ent w here it raises
useless th e o re tica l basis m any w ell- q u e stio n s of w elfare in a positive
m anner, and in the w elfare agencies
m eaning social w o rke rs are cast into
s itu a tio n s w here the hum an aspects ol w here m em bers o f the un io n are put in
c a p ita lis t e x p lo ita tio n and a lie n a tio n to u ch w ith the la b o r m ovem ent. The
are m ost acute and th e ir tra in in g and o rg a n isa tio n o f w elfare w o rke rs into a
p re p a ratio n provide them w ith no trade union reflects the developm ent
answ ers to the anger and resentm ent o f class stru g g le in the w elfare field
and the increasing im p o rta n ce of
th e y e n c o u n te r from th e ir clients.
T he greatest flaw in th is bo o k is that w elfare spending and p ro visio n in the
broad stru g g le betw een la b o u r and
it p rovides no real in sig h ts in to w hal
capital.
the w elfare w o rk e r can do in practice
T h is book provides goo d th e o re tical
w hen faced w ith the victim s o f an
b a c k g ro u n d fo r th o s e w h o are
in hum an and c ru m b lin g social system
engaged in th is s tru g g le . Itis a v a lu a b le
N one o f the c o n trib u to rs are practising
resource fo r all so cia lists w ho w ant to
social w o rkers and th e re in lies the
understand the d yn a m ics o f w elfare in
fa ilu re o f m ost professional welfare
a m o n o p o ly c a p ita lis t state.
e d u ca tio n — it is prepared and
presented, in the main, by p eople whc B ria n M c G a h e n is a s o c ia l w o rkei
have very little kn o w ledge o f w h a t life a n d an o ffic e r o f th e S o c ia l W elfare
is a c tu a lly like o u t there in the w orking
W o rk e rs ' U nion.
ALR
W in te r
83 j