Abstract
Imagine, that against all the odds, social workers, social development practitioners, social work educators and social work students around the world, numbering above five million people, and the legions in the communities with whom they work decide to organise for their voices to be heard. What if these voices and alignments emerge to challenge, as many have done before, the profoundly unjust, unfair and above all unsustainable social, economic and political system of the contemporary world and strive to transform it? Claims to transforming the world today does not imply that it has been a better place in the past. After all for many, inhuman suffering under slavery, colonialism, apartheid are part of its history. But at least in the past both our predecessors and we believed and demonstrated that through struggle some form of liberation was possible. We/they believed, at that time, that a bright future was attainable and that even the sky was not the limit. The issue is not that objectively the world has become worse than before (though not for some) but that today many believe that nothing can be changed. That there is no alternative. That wild neoliberal capitalism is acceptable. And that it is ‘normal’ to live in societies of extreme social, economic and political inequalities.
What if social work and social development communities decided not to accept the status quo? We are aware that the ‘legal missions or mandate’ of social work or development communities has nothing to do with political activism. We are aware that in many places around the world, the main objective of those in charge of economic and political affairs, including employers of social workers, is to maintain the existing social order. They employ social workers for social control purposes. We know that political engagement among social workers and educators was strong some decades back, but has since been devalued. Social workers and educators have been assigned to perform and act only as technical cadres. Despite this, there are ample examples in different parts of the world of social work practitioners, educators and social development workers engaged in radical struggles for social change, perceiving themselves not only as technically competent but also as agents of transformation. These are not ‘just individuals’ but people and groups that possess incredible talent and capacity to articulate social issues, knowledge of mobilising a large spectrum of society, committed individuals working by the side and partnering with those whose voices are marginalized every day. These are not people who choose to become social workers and community development practitioners by accident, taking ‘just a job’, but after a careful consideration, they have decided consciously and deliberately to stand by the side of those at the margins. Moreover, these are people with conviction that they can be part of and have the skills needed for the transformation of power relations in society.
From this perspective, tabling the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development has been and remains a process that attempts to incorporate political actions as part of general strategy of engagement. With all its insufficiencies and limits, the Global Agenda is an attempt to create a space for debate within the profession and beyond with all those committed to social, economic and political justice. International social work, social workers and social development organisations are not mere service providers for their members. They provide spaces where issues at the heart of societies are articulated to provide and contribute to a global debate about our societies.
The aim of this special issue is to share the thinking and experiences of social workers, social development practitioners and social work educators on the first theme of the Global Agenda: Promoting social and economic equalities. The process of choosing the theme and the manner whereby it has been framed has been a complicated one. The profession is not presenting a homogeneous or unique voice, in terms of both understanding and responding to the issues that relate to social and economic equality and other societal debates. Interestingly, the differences in approaches to the theme within the profession do not always relate to regional belonging. Rather, the divides are based on ideological positions between those who think that social work and social development should position themselves within political debates and those who focus on the profession from technical perspectives. Moreover, within these two ‘extreme’ postures, several other positions exist and are constantly in movement from one point to another, and in relation to specific questions.
This special issue is a representation of different debates that are at a time convergent and at others divergent, thus reflecting the profession. The first five articles are dedicated to current thinking and practices on the central theme of promoting social and economic equalities and discuss these from different angles. The last five articles critique and articulate the Global Agenda for social work and social development from different standpoints. Thus, the special issue is far from being a final point of discussion within the profession both on the central theme of how social workers and social development practitioners can be agents for social changes and transformation, and on whether or not the Global Agenda development process can be a mechanism that opens different forms of engagement. It is best understood as a starting point from which to launch a large debate in order to understand the diversity of postures available within the profession.