Beschreibung

People’s encounters with social work are often marked by the experience of being turned into an object. Poverty, addiction, crime, and homelessness are framed as individual problems, as if people lived their lives in isolation from broader social and political structures. The authors of this book share a conviction that social work is worth fighting for, since it has the potential to contribute to creating a more just society in which people can truly develop their lives. Based on case studies and observations from Sweden, the book examines challenges and developments relevant to social work internationally.

As in many other countries, public social work in Sweden currently finds itself in a state where relational, human, structural, preventive, and locally rooted practices are neither given time nor space. Under such conditions, public social work struggles to contribute to social change and more just living conditions. This book’s authors— researchers and practitioners—advocate a visionary form of social work grounded in values of social justice and human rights, rather than in organizational models shaped by efficiency, economization, and nationalism. Although many of the case examples are drawn from the Swedish context, the analyses and conceptual discussions speak to challenges and developments in social work internationally.The vital role of critical social work is treated in a context where people are too often reduced to budget lines, statistics, or labels such as “immigrants”. Thus, the book calls for another kind of social work beyond what currently exists—one that is not only possible, but urgently necessary. Such a practice aspires to social mobilization and to the creation of a more enduring and profound social justice.

The editors:
Magnus Dahlstedt, Professor of Social Work, Department of Culture and Society (IKOS), Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden
Sabine Gruber, Professor of Social Work, Department of Psychology and Social Work (PSO), Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Marcus Herz, Professor of Social Work, Department of Social Work, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Philip Lalander, Professor of Social Work, Department of Social Work, Linnaeus University, Kalmar and Växjö, Sweden

The subject:
Social Work

Zusätzliche Informationen

Autor*innen

Magnus Dahlstedt

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Sabine Gruber

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Marcus Herz

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Philip Lalander

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Keywords

anti-oppressive practice, community-based social work, critical social work, human rights in social work, social justice, social work and social change