The role of the social worker in a precarious society

The decline of the welfare state and the rapid recent changes in production processes have brought about a radical transformation of the labour market. In societies whose structure has been shaped around paid work, the increasing lack of employment has created acute polarization and inequality. This has led to the birth of a new majority class of precarious and vulnerable workers as well as a new layout of marginality in unfamiliar ghettos. The social worker, a direct witness of the most devastating consequences of these transformations, cannot find suitable intervention procedures for this new society of "growth without employment", where full employment will never again be a realistic aim.