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This timely analysis sets out the full impacts of policy reform, austerity and marketisation on our country's mental health services. Rooted in the experiences of service users and providers, it provides valuable perspectives on our evolving practical and organisational responses to mental distress.

There has recently been renewed interest in non-reductive historical materialist modes for analysing social movements, of which the work of mental health activist and Marxist theorist Peter Sedgwick is a precursor. We contend that Sedgwick's approach retains contemporary utility for theorising radical mental health movements, though we argue that this needs extension in light of intervening debates regarding the interaction of material and post-material concerns. Having established this, we will turn to an overview of recent neoliberal labour market, welfare and mental health policy reforms as a basis for consideration of the strategic implications for resistance and coalition building among survivor and worker activists. We will propose a contemporary Sedgwickian 'transitional' strategy as a means to realise transformative change in services and society. In conclusion, we argue that tools for promoting this strategy, such as the Social Work Action Network's 'Mental health charter', may assist in binding together diverse constituencies to strengthen alliances of resistance.

The last two years have seen a small but significant increase in the level of resistance by service users and practitioners to the coalition government's policy of austerity and neoliberal restructuring of mental health services in England. This article provides an overview and analysis of these developments by examining four recent campaigns that feature alliances between service users, workers, trade unionists and anti-cuts activists. It considers both challenges faced and successes achieved by campaigners.

It is essential that social work students understand the lasting impact political decision making can have on service users, yet little guidance exists on this subject. This valuable book provides a comprehensive introduction to politics in social work, unifying the themes of political ideology and social construction across several areas of social work practice, including emerging areas of practice. The book: • Introduces the dominant political ideologies in the UK; • Examines the impact of these ideological perspectives on different demographic groups; • Explores emerging areas of growing political interest such as radicalisation; • Employs case studies and examples from practice to aid student understanding. Including helpful key points to guide reading at the beginning of each chapter, as well as exercises for seminars and further reading recommendations, this text will be an invaluable resource to all students in social work

Bringing together international case studies, this book offers theoretical and empirical insights into the interaction between social work and social policy. Moving beyond existing studies on policy practice, the book employs the policy cycle as a core analytical frame and focuses on the influence of social work(ers) in the problem definition, agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation of social policy. Twenty-three contributors offer examples of policy making from seven different countries and demonstrate how social work practitioners can become political actors, while also encouraging policy makers to become aware of the potential of social work for the social policy-making process