Eight International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective
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Michael Lavalette
Abstract
Radical social work aimed to provide a series of arguments for, and about, radical social work in Britain. It did not look at social-work engagement beyond Britain’s shores. International social work attempts to look at a range of social problems that social work can address, at local ‘indigenous’ practices and the way(s) in which they can be incorporated into professional and regulated modes of social-work delivery. This chapter argues that international social work has an ambiguous history. First, it examines one aspect of social work’s less-savoury history: the intersection of post-World War II international social work, the Marshall Plan, and the United States’ imperial interests in post-war Greece. The chapter then discusses the distinction between ‘official social work’ and ‘popular social work’, the formative years of international social work, the impact of imperialism on social work, and social-work internationalisation versus internationalism.
Abstract
Radical social work aimed to provide a series of arguments for, and about, radical social work in Britain. It did not look at social-work engagement beyond Britain’s shores. International social work attempts to look at a range of social problems that social work can address, at local ‘indigenous’ practices and the way(s) in which they can be incorporated into professional and regulated modes of social-work delivery. This chapter argues that international social work has an ambiguous history. First, it examines one aspect of social work’s less-savoury history: the intersection of post-World War II international social work, the Marshall Plan, and the United States’ imperial interests in post-war Greece. The chapter then discusses the distinction between ‘official social work’ and ‘popular social work’, the formative years of international social work, the impact of imperialism on social work, and social-work internationalisation versus internationalism.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors iv
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Case Con and radical social work in the 1970s: the impatient revolutionaries 11
- The best and worst of times: reflections on the impact of radicalism on British social work education in the 1970s 27
- Social work and women’s oppression today 45
- The jester’s joke 59
- LGBT oppression, sexualities and radical social work today 79
- Radical social work and service users: a crucial connection 95
- Why class (still) matters 115
- International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective 135
- Rediscovering radicalism and humanity in social work 153
- Re-gilding the ghetto: community work and community development in 21st-century Britain 165
- Resisting the EasyCare model: building a more radical, community-based, anti-authoritarian social work for the future 187
- Bibliography 205
- Index 231
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors iv
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Case Con and radical social work in the 1970s: the impatient revolutionaries 11
- The best and worst of times: reflections on the impact of radicalism on British social work education in the 1970s 27
- Social work and women’s oppression today 45
- The jester’s joke 59
- LGBT oppression, sexualities and radical social work today 79
- Radical social work and service users: a crucial connection 95
- Why class (still) matters 115
- International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective 135
- Rediscovering radicalism and humanity in social work 153
- Re-gilding the ghetto: community work and community development in 21st-century Britain 165
- Resisting the EasyCare model: building a more radical, community-based, anti-authoritarian social work for the future 187
- Bibliography 205
- Index 231
