Demystifying the Commodification of Social Relations in the Ontario Child Protection System: A Marxist Approach to Textual Analysis

Capitalism invades all aspects of society, including the welfare state. Capitalist notions of the market appear to be encroaching into social services, wherein we see the "businessology" of social work; however, little empirical attention has been given to how capitalism appears to be replicated within social services. This research aims to make the invisible visible in order to agitate for radical change in the organization and practice of social service provision.;In this inquiry, focusing on the child protection system in Ontario I examine some of the documentary actualities of the ruling apparatus of regulated parenthood and childhood by exploring the textualities of the state. Specifically, through the critical lens of Marxism and feminism, and drawing on my own experience of a classed and gendered world, I critically deconstruct the regulatory texts closest to the state, the legislation of the Child and Family Services and the regulations that expand the legislative intent. I also explore the procedural document of the Ontario Risk Assessment Model as an enacted text that operationalizes the legislation and regulation.;By reading and re-reading these texts, at the surface but also above and below the surface, positioning the documents in context and recalling my social work practice, I seek answers to questions of how texts replicate capital, and commodify social relations through the ruling apparatus of the state. This work queries how the text itself in its active use of language has implications for social work, in practice, in research and in education.