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The aim of this paper is to introduce some recent sociological insights to the field of social work, in order to develop some initial thinking on their potential value in helping us to reframe ideas and practice within the discipline. In particular, the ideas of Manuel Castells will form the backdrop to this discussion. This is for two reasons: firstly, his perceptive analysis has already been recognised for its great potential in contributing to our understanding of the current dynamics and direction of global change; and, secondly, because his ideas appear to offer much that is practically relevant to an applied discipline such as social work, which is constantly preoccupied with the challenge of identifying effective means of achieving social change, and beyond that, social justice. The paper is framed in such a way as to consider four broad questions, bringing some provisional responses together to suggest possible directions for empowering practice in a ‘networked’ context, where social relationships and social change are tightly bound up with questions about how we organise and manage our interpersonal and social connections in the contemporary world. The first of these questions is well-rehearsed, but necessarily acts as the basis for subsequent discussion, and this is the matter of the changing nature of global realities, and the increasing sense of interconnectedness across boundaries, cultures and traditional forms of separation between social environments. Building on this overview, the paper will go on to consider the possible implications of such global change for social work and its practices, in light of increasingly complex and diffuse forms of social organisation and disruption and change in communities, mediated by electronic forms of communication which appear at the same time to bestow a greater degree of homogeneity to multifaceted forms of human interaction. Following on from this, Castells’ articulation of the ‘Network Society’ will be considered, in order to provide a potential framework for the development of new forms of assessment and intervention in the lives of those experiencing difficulty of one kind or another. And, finally, the paper will offer some brief reflections on what this might mean for social work in its continuing role of addressing problems, promoting positive change and pursuing empowerment for those who use services.
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