The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work (Routledge International Handbooks)

The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work brings together the world’s leading scholars in the field to provide a cutting-edge overview of classic and current research and future trends in the subject. Comprised of 48 chapters divided into six parts: Historical, social, and political influences Mapping the theoretical and conceptual terrain Methods of engagement and modes of analysis Critical contexts for practice and policy Professional education and socialisation Future challenges, directions, and transformations it provides an authoritative guide to theory and method, and the primary debates of today in social work from a critical perspective. This handbook is a major reference work and the first book to comprehensively map the wide-ranging territory of critical social work. It does so by addressing its conceptual developments, its methodological advances, its value-based front-line practice and as an influence on the policy field. By offering a definitive survey of current academic knowledge as it relates to professional practice, it provides the first comprehensive, up-to-date, definitive work of reference while at the same time identifying emerging, innovative and cutting-edge areas. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of contributors Editor Contributors Foreword: Critical social work and social justice References Acknowledgements Introduction: Critical social work and the politics of transformation Setting the scene for critical social work Redefining the meaning of critical social work Handbook structure and content Political ontology and innovation in critical social work Taking a political stance in social work Note References PART I: Historical, social and political influences Chapter 1: Welfare words, neoliberalism and critical social work Introduction Welfare words, critical social work and social policy Keywords A welfare words approach Examples of welfare words Rhetorically recalibrated neoliberalism Welfare words, social work and critically disruptive thinking Conclusion References Chapter 2: Neoliberal relations of poverty and the welfare state Neoliberal relations of poverty Neoliberalism defined Neoliberal welfare Conclusion References Chapter 3: Marxist social work: an international and historical perspective Introduction Foundations of Marxist social work Marxist analyses of the state Marxist approaches to social work under capitalism Popular social work Marxist approaches to social work under socialism Conclusion Note References Chapter 4: Critical social work in the U.S.: challenges and conflicts Introduction The evolution of critical social work in the U.S. The influence of socialism Voices of contemporary critical social workers Contemporary challenges and conflicts Responding to contemporary challenges Conclusion References Chapter 5: The rise of the global state paradigm: implications for social work Introduction The globalisation of the welfare state The role of supranational bodies – the European Union (EU) Growth of inequality Rise of the global state paradigm Governmentalisation – insights from Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas Implications for critical social work Conclusion Note References PART II: Mapping the theoretical and conceptual terrain Chapter 6: Critical theory and critical social work Introduction What is critical theory? Influences and key themes Critical theory as method Critical theory and society Critical social work and critical theory The influence of critical theory on critical social work Critical theory and welfare organizations under neoliberalism Conclusion: critical theory and welfare in the twenty-first century References Chapter 7: Re-imagining social theory for social work Introduction: sociology and critical social work Social work, sociology and social theory (Mis)conceiving social theory within social work Reconceiving social theory for social work Reconstructing the conditions of reception for critical social work Conclusion References Chapter 8: Anarchism and social work Introduction Anarchism Anarchism in theory, practice and organisation Autonomy, choice and responsibility Solidarity, mutual aid and human nature – modelling an anarchist future Problems of the State and the alternatives of direct democracy, decentralisation and confederalism Anarchist social work Policy and organisation Anarchist social work practice References Chapter 9: Relational constructivism and relational social work Relational perspectives Constructivist framework Life-world and living conditions Phenomenology, critical theory and social sciences: terminological roots Life-world and living conditions as relational constructs Observing and understanding life-worlds and living conditions The relational construction of power Enforcement and refusal potentials Instructive power and destructive power Conclusion Notes References Chapter 10: Extending Bourdieu for critical social work Introduction Bourdieu’s conceptual cache Implications for social work Enhancing professional reflexivity Developing cultural and political sensitivity Raising awareness and empowering Enlarging Bourdieu’s cache for social work Conclusion References Chapter 11: Why psychosocial thinking is critical References Chapter 12: Feminist contributions to critical social work Introduction The beginnings of feminism and of social work, 1840s to 1920s The emergence of feminist social work, 1960s to 1980s Postmodern feminism comes to the fore, 1990s onwards Critical feminism today – lessons from the global North and global South Conclusion References Chapter 13: The politics of Michel Foucault Introduction Marxism Anti-Communism Socialism Michel Foucault and the neoliberal way Michel Foucault and the ‘third way’ Conclusion Notes References Chapter 14: Resistance, biopolitics and radical passivity Enter Agamben the anarchist The ideology of the operative Agamben and inoperativity Becoming ungovernable and radical passivity Mutiny at the margins Note References PART III: Methods of engagement and modes of analysis Chapter 15: Critical race theory and social work Critical race theory and social work Critical Race Theory The importance of CRT in discussing contemporary race issues Critical Race Theory’s fit with social work Applying Critical Race Theory Conclusion References Chapter 16: Indigenous peoples and communities: a critical theory perspective Of means and ends The past as a catalyst for the present and a promise for the future Taking up the gauntlet to find the way forward References Chapter 17: Postcolonial feminist social work Postcolonial feminist social work Women’s empowerment and gender equality initiatives Women’s labor force participation Financial inclusion Popular development discourse Globalization and global inequality Global inequality The role of discourse in shaping responses Collective resistance and alternative pathways Union organizing Partnerships Recognizing privilege and building solidarity Conclusion References Chapter 18: Critical discourse analysis and social work Introduction Four key concepts of CDA Discourse is constitutive and constituted (dialectical) Discourse functions ideologically (‘orders of discourse’ as dominant social practices). Language in its social context (three-dimensional analysis) A textual analysis Challenging the orthodoxies of practice through the discursive References Chapter 19: Controversy analysis: contributions to the radical agenda Introduction Conflict Follow the actors Controversy and social work Hidden issues in controversy analysis Participation Conclusion References Chapter 20: Narrative analysis and critical social work Introduction A meta-critical position and the use of narratives Theory: narratives, critical social work, and the self Critical social work Narratives and the self A multi-dimensional model The multi-dimensional model applied to addiction Methodological challenges A critical reflexive methodology The actor–spectator paradox and narrative analysis Narrative case analysis Conclusion References PART IV: Critical contexts for practice and policy IV.1 Issues, geographies and politics Chapter 21: Green social work, political ecology and environmental justice Introduction Theorising green social work Political ecology and green social work Green social work in practice Conclusion References Chapter 22: Securitising social work: counter terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation Introduction The global context The policy context Criticisms of PREVENT Proponents of PREVENT The appropriation of safeguarding Securitisation theory Securitisation, social work and safeguarding Implications for social work policy and practice Conclusion Note References Chapter 23: Issues of ageing, social class, and poverty Introduction Ageing and rescinded care Demographic and social changes affecting older people Political tensions between ethical codes, complexity and inequality within ageing Bioethics and ageing Alternative paradigms for ageing: post-structural, critical and indigenous ethics Conclusion References Chapter 24: Critical social work in the new urban age Introduction Social work and the urban age Urban futures – prospects and possibilities A critical social work for the urban age? Conclusion Notes References Chapter 25: Parents organizing a grassroots movement to reform child welfare Major changes in NYC child welfare system in the past 25 years What hasn’t changed in child welfare The process of change The role of executive of the Child Welfare Fund CWOP Stages of the Parents Movement Current stage of reform Conclusion References Chapter 26: Incorporating rurality into a critical ethics of intellectual disability care Introduction Understanding the complexity of transitions: the ethics and politics of long-term care Research design Maternal subjectivity and care Uncertain futures and bounded choices: planning the care transition Conclusion Note References Chapter 27: Neoliberal regimes of welfare in Scandinavia A society on the move Traces of neoliberalization Social work and changing welfare states – the neoliberal challenge So where do the dominant neoliberal policies take us? Notes References Chapter 28: Performativity and sociomaterial becoming: what technologies do Introduction Making sense of our relationship with technologies Performativity: becoming enacted through the ontological doings of technologies References IV.2 Justice, empowerment and service users Chapter 29: Challenging scapegoating mechanisms: mimetic desire and self-directed groupwork Overview of self-directed groupwork Girard’s theory of mimetic desire Applying Girard’s theory of mimetic desire to self-directed groupwork Conclusion References Chapter 30: Vulnerability and the myth of autonomy Introduction Neoliberalism, individualism and the welfare state Fineman and the vulnerable subject The liberal subject and the discourse of rights The liberal subject More on the vulnerable subject Social work and vulnerability Conclusion References Chapter 31: Foodbanks, austerity and critical social work Introduction Building evidence Welfare reform Critical social work and political responses to food poverty Can foodbanks be counter-practice? The politics of gatekeeping Foodbank plus? Further monitoring? Critical social work in practice The poverty-aware paradigm (PAP) Conclusion References Chapter 32: Ageing, veterans and offending: challenges for critical social work The power of discourse, ageing and identity Understanding ageing and offending – the identity construction of the veteran Criminal justice and critical social work The ageing veteran offender: implications for critical social work Conclusion References Chapter 33: “Do you really want this in front of a judge?” Age assessment with unaccompanied refugee children UASCs in law, policy and practice Age assessment Actor network theory (ANT) as method Problematisation: what is the issue? Interessement and enrolment: positioning the actors Mobilisation: inscription and circulation Reversing the irreversible? Conclusion Notes References Chapter 34: Toward a multispecies home: bedbugs and the politics of non-human relations Introduction Social work and environment Govanhill in Glasgow Bedbugs Horror Extermination and the insecticide ‘pharmakon’ Toward the multispecies home Ethics and ethology References Chapter 35: Adoption, child rescue, maltreatment and poverty Introduction: adoption in context Adoption and child protection discourses from the mid-1970s The critique of ‘care’ and the increase in adoption as a child protection measure A children’s rights perspective and the interpretation of the ‘right to family life’ Maltreatment, poverty and adoption: psychological and ecological discourses Whose interests does adoption serve now? The child as potential beneficiary of modern adoption policy and practice Does modern adoption meet the needs of birth mothers and fathers? Prospective adopters and adoptive parents and their families What do governments and child protection agencies gain from adoptions from care? Conclusion Note References Chapter 36: Critical debates in child protection: the production of risk in changing times Introduction Risk in context: management and direct practice models The politics of early intervention Discourse and knowledge – intimate partner violence (IVP) and neuroscience Predictive algorithms in child protection Risk work and the war on terror Conclusion References Chapter 37: LGBT issues and critical social work Introduction Recognising LGBT movements The failure to address LGBT issues in social work Developing a critical knowledge base: queer and post-queer contributions Conclusion: from critical knowledge to critical practice? Note References PART V: Professional education and socialisation Chapter 38: Promoting activism and critical social work education Introduction Social work education as a catalyst for promoting activism? Neoliberalism and the rise of establishment social work education Critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy, social work education and activism Implications of a critical social work education for activist practice Conclusion References Chapter 39: Social work education and the challenge of neoliberal hegemony Introduction Methodology Results Discussion of findings Implications for social work education Conclusion References Chapter 40: Embedding critical reflection across the curriculum Examples of embedding critical reflection in the curriculum Key aspects of embedding critical reflection in the curriculum Stages of developing critically reflective capacity Critical reflection being transformative and therapeutic Conclusion References Chapter 41: Contesting doxa in social work education Social work education under conditions of neoliberalism Social work students’ political activity Enabling a pedagogy of discomfort and challenge Developing a critical voice Conclusion Notes References Chapter 42: Insinuating: understanding approaches to critical practice Introduction To insinuate Approaching from concealment Understanding destructive practices Research design and method Data collection and analysis Interpretation and findings Conclusion References Chapter 43: Responding to neoliberalism in social work education: a neo-Gramscian approach Introduction The impact of neoliberalism on social work A neo-Gramscian approach to understanding neoliberalism The hailing of social work and the manufacturing of consent Social work’s disruption and resistance to neoliberalism Conclusion References PART VI: Future challenges, directions and transformations Chapter 44: Reprioritising social work practice: towards a critical reconnection of the personal and the social Introduction: Where is the practitioner’s voice? Challenging the devaluing of social work practice The contribution of radical social work Social work’s knowledge base and the emergence of user movements The challenge of user research Revaluing experiential knowledge The importance of first and second person knowledge The social worker and second person data Speaking for ourselves The social work relationship What service users say Conclusion References Chapter 45: Responding to political polarization: the new social work radicalism Introduction Learning from our history Active collusion with the State Professional neutrality A social work of resistance The new social work radicalism The New Approach group, Hungary The Orange Tide, Spain Boston Health Liberation Group The Social Work Action Network (SWAN) The Progressive Welfare Network, Hong Kong The new social work radicalism: themes and prospects Conclusion References Chapter 46: Popular social work Introduction: social work and social movements Thinking about social work once more The popular roots of a more radical social work Conclusion References Chapter 47: Challenging harmful political contexts through activism Neoliberalism The politics of activist social work Social work activism, local and global: conundrums Asylum seeker rights Islamophobia Steps forward for social workers References Chapter 48: Imperialism, colonialism and a Marxist epistemology of ‘critical peace’ Imperial aspirations and colonial practice Direct and indirect colonial violence Critical peace and unifying narratives of resistance References Index "The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work brings together the world's leading scholars in the field to provide a cutting-edge overview of classic and current research and future trends in the subject. Comprised of 47 chapters divided into six sections: - Historical, social, and political influences - Mapping the theoretical and conceptual terrain - Methods of engagement and modes of analysis - Critical contexts for practice and policy - Professional education and socialisation - Future challenges, directions, and transformations it provides an authoritative guide to theory and method, and the primary debates of today in social work from a critical perspective. This handbook is a major reference work and the first book to comprehensively map the wide-ranging territory of critical social work. It does so by addressing its conceptual developments, its methodological advances, value based front-line practice and as an influence on the policy field. By offering a definitive survey of current academic knowledge as it relates to professional practice, it provides the first comprehensive, up to date, definitive work of reference while at the same time identifying emerging, innovative and cutting-edge areas"-- Provided by publisher "The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work brings together the world's leading scholars in the field to provide a cutting-edge overview of classic and current research and future trends in the subject. Comprised of 47 chapters divided into six sections: - Historical, social, and political influences - Mapping the theoretical and conceptual terrain - Methods of engagement and modes of analysis - Critical contexts for practice and policy - Professional education and socialisation - Future challenges, directions, and transformations it provides an authoritative guide to theory and method, and the primary debates of today in social work from a critical perspective. This handbook is a major reference work and the first book to comprehensively map the wide-ranging territory of critical social work. It does so by addressing its conceptual developments, its methodological advances, value based front-line practice and as an influence on the policy field. By offering a definitive survey of current academic knowledge as it relates to professional practice, it provides the first comprehensive, up to date, definitive work of reference while at the same time identifying emerging, innovative and cutting-edge areas"-- Resumen del editor __The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work__ brings together the world’s leading scholars in the field to provide a cutting-edge overview of classic and current research and future trends in the subject. * Historical, social, and political influences * Mapping the theoretical and conceptual terrain * Methods of engagement and modes of analysis * Critical contexts for practice and policy * Professional education and socialisation * Future challenges, directions, and transformations This handbook is a major reference work and the first book to comprehensively map the wide-ranging territory of critical social work. It does so by addressing its conceptual developments, its methodological advances, its value-based front-line practice and as an influence on the policy field. By offering a definitive survey of current academic knowledge as it relates to professional practice, it provides the first comprehensive, up-to-date, definitive work of reference while at the same time identifying emerging, innovative and cutting-edge areas.