Michel Foucault and Dorothy Smith in case file research: Strange bed-fellows or complementary thinkers?

Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide an exploration of how the work of two theorists with notably different stances could be used effectively to enhance critical research methods in relation to the history of child welfare social work. Our proposition is that the design and implementation of child welfare policies, practices and discourses could considerably benefit from a more historically well grounded scholarship that enables actors to connect their present concerns with the broader historical dynamics of social regulation. The article begins with a statement of the ‘problem’ and our questions to justify our reasons for engaging in this exploration. The article reports on the authors’ reflections to date on how the work of Michel Foucault and Dorothy Smith might be considered in parallel as two different perspectives to the same scene in time and place. The differences and similarities in their approaches are explored with an emphasis on concepts most relevant to researching child welfare archives including discourse; text; the subject and power-knowledge. The article concludes with a commentary on further developments which are necessary to take forward this methodological analysis.