This book explores the relationship between 'race', gender and policy to develop an important and original argument about social welfare and racial formation in the late twentieth century.

The book presents a layered and finely textured analysis of the issue of 'ethnic minority' women in professional social work in Britain. The analysis contextualizes their entry in terms of an understanding of the developing relationship between racial formation and its expression in local and central policy and policy-making. In the process, the author builds upon and greatly extends the current analyses of social policy and 'race' and gender. Using a skilful mix of theory, empirical research and interviews, the book explores the complexities of the racialized and gendered world of the social services department. The result is an important contribution to the literature that draws on feminist, postcolonial, psychoanalytic and social constructionist perspectives to develop an argument about processes of racial formation.

'Race', Gender, Social Welfare will be of interest to students, academics and practitioners in the fields of social welfare, social work, ethnic and women's studies and discourse analysis.

Gail Lewis is at the Open University