The Road Not Taken: A History of Radical Social Work in the United States

The Road Not Takentakes a new perspective on the course of social welfare policy in the twentieth century. This examination looks at the evolution of social work in the United States as a dynamic process not just driven by mainstream organizations and politics, but strongly influenced by the ideas and experiences of radical individuals and marginalized groups as well. Michael Reisch and Janice Andrews have interviewed contemporary social workers, seasoned and novice, radical and mainstream, and combed archives and scholarly writings to explain why the profession has faced intense, sometimes self-imposed repression, and why anti-social welfare main.The Road Not Takenis an appeal to examine the past, the battles deferred, and to consider the ways that social work might respond to current and future political and cultural threats to social work values.

Michael Reisch, Ph.D., is professor of social work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Janice Andrews, Ph.D., is professor of social work at the University of St. Thomas and College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota