This book analyses experiences of partnerships in different policy fields, identifying theoretical and practical impediments to making partnership work and evaluating the implications for those involved. It also addresses other key forms of collaboration between voluntary, private and statutory sectors, service users and community groups.

Contents: Introduction Susan Balloch and Marilyn Taylor; Part One: Regeneration and social exclusion: 'Holism' and urban regeneration Peter Ambrose; Partnerships and power in community regeneration Marjorie Mayo and Marilyn Taylor; Local government, anti-poverty strategies and partnership working Sarah Pearson; Partnership and change in social housing Barbara Reid; Improving partnership working in housing and mental health Simon Northmore; Part Two: Partnerships in social care and health: The potential of project status to support partnerships Valerie Williamson; Promoting independence: a partnership approach to supporting older people in the community Helen Charnley; Partnership between service users and statutory social services Michael Turner and Susan Balloch; Partnership working in health promotion: the potential role of social capital in health development John Kenneth Davies; Part Three: Power, participation and place: Partnership and power: the role of black and minority ethnic voluntary organisations in challenging racism Jabeer Butt; Rounding up the 'usual suspects': police approaches to multiagency policing Peter Squires and Lynda Measor; Partnership - participation - power: the meaning of empowerment in post-industrial society David Byrne; Spatial considerations in multiagency and multidisciplinary work Philip Haynes; Conclusion - can partnerships work? Susan Balloch and Marilyn Taylor.

"Excellent book. I think the multi-professional perspective is a real strength." Robert Banton, School of Health & Human Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University "This book will add richly to the literature on partnerships in public service... should prove useful for both academicians and practitioners." Voluntas "This is an excellent book and should be read by anyoune involved or thinking of getting involved in partnership working ... one of the essential items to cover in making partnerships succeed is reading this book from cover to cover." Journal of Interprofessional Care

"This carefully crafted collection unpacks the concept of partnership in a range of policy contexts, exposing its tensions and contradictions and pointing to the centrality of the issue of power in understanding why partnerships do or do not work." Gary Craig, Professor of Social Justice, University of Hull