Advancing Local, Social, and Ecological Transitions Through Community Development

This chapter explores social work and community development practices in light of the urgent social, economic, and environmental issues facing the world today. Can those professions, established to support individuals and communities, overcome social disadvantage, evolve into new, alternative roles that seek combined human and non-human (animals, plants, living organisms) understandings leading towards transformative practices? Those professions are viewed within their own constructs and environmental agendas. Ancient and contemporary Indigenous knowledges are then considered, as they relate to the First Law of caring for their living country and living lifestyles. Two community development case studies are examined, involving non-Indigenous people in their community, and Indigenous traditional owners across a whole river catchment to address key questions: How can those disciplines contribute to ecological transformation? Can they appreciate and include non-humans in their practice? and How can Indigenous ancient and current knowledges contribute to social justice practice?

Social Work in the Anthropocene

The reality of the Anthropocene hangs over our heads as we enter the 2020s. Humanity is facing multiple crises, and it has become clear that political and government structures are incapable of dealing with them adequately and equitably. We are seeing the erosion of the liberal democratic state and its institutions, the appeal of populism, mistrust both of politicians and of political institutions, and powerful interests responding by increasing surveillance, secrecy, and control. The Anthropocene also challenges the anthropocentrism that has been taken for granted in the world view of Western modernity, but is proving to be unsustainable and indeed harmful to human and non-human flourishing. This presents a new set of challenges for social work, if it is to remain relevant to the needs of the society, and also to remain true to its value base. This chapter argues that social work needs to explore and adopt theory/practice that is community-based, political, anarchistic, decolonised, matriarchal, and grounded in an ecological epistemology that is both Indigenous and post-human.

Eco-Disasters

This chapter seeks to encourage social workers to review their often (enforced) siloed roles in relation to communities of place and to develop stronger senses about the relationships and networks in places where those they serve actually live. The author offers a picture of force fields, system tensions which shape organizational and community life in particular ways, ways which diminish community life, and those who seek to serve community, and she provides examples from her practice experience in pre and post disaster environments. Where social workers can contribute to strengthening community networks, this will contribute to a quality of life for those they serve and then strengthen the capability of community responsiveness to a disaster. Seeing, valuing, and using these links may allow social workers to make subtle but important contributions to the field of emergency management.

Recontextualization

The concept of recontextualization has received minimal attention in social work literature. Exploring the practical and political ways in which social work has been re-constructed in contexts different to mainstream human services is the focus of this chapter. By linking recontextualization with social work, the authors are extending its meaning beyond what it had come to mean to date. Reflecting upon the authors' lived praxis experience provides insights into how their wish to explore recontextualization in social work features at different stages in their own journeys. Contributions from social workers in Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Australia provide a kaleidoscope of ways in which social work is being recontextualized. Some of the ways they achieve this is by reframing social work within the post-human space and integrating Ubuntu philosophy, which highlights Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and relationships encompassing all people and their environments, enabling interconnectedness and community solidarity for collective power in professional practice and political activism.

Social Work Practice in the Compensation Context

There are multiple synergies between social work and the law, and the two professions have common goals. The law underpins social work practice via legislation and legal processes. Despite this, social work services in a plaintiff law firm remains a unique practice setting. This chapter provides a description of the establishment of such a service in Australia. It explains the reason for it, how it was established, the practice model, spheres of influence, and reasons for its success. The service is a role model for successful multidisciplinary practice for better client outcomes.

Looking Back to Keep Moving . . . And It May Not Be “Forward”

In this concluding chapter, the author looks back over the content of the 13 preceding chapters of the volume and reflects on the process of assembling them. Rather than offer an interpretative summary that would dilute their contextual specificity, the various “recontextualization stories” should be read on their own. Instead, five global “predicaments” with which all social work practice accounts in the volume directly, indirectly, and intersectionally are addressed: the pandemic, the crises in global capitalism, racism and other “embodied” social antagonisms, war and conflict, and the ecology. A second section briefly speculates about the consequences of the convergence of the several predicaments whilst the final section offers thoughts about the need to evolve a “relational” approach to professional social work, proposing that the real meaning of the “social” that refers to the authors' “work” entails their professional attempts across all their intervention modes to restore people's relational capabilities.

Social Working the Borderlands

This chapter describes why and how the author decided to leave his social work teaching position at an Australian university and start a cooperative that could more appropriately respond to the changing social and ecological context and could be more commensurate with the true values of the social work profession. The chapter moves from the author's experiences and philosophical motivations guiding his decision to move from the university context to the establishment of a social and ecological change cooperative and the invitation to colleagues and students to join the re-contextualizing experiment to the reasons why the cooperative format was chosen. The programs, projects, and partnerships, which have been realized in the course of the 23 years since the start of the Borderlands Cooperative, are documented and reflected upon, leading to final recommendations for a social work practice that remains true to its historical mission whilst responding to the contemporary contextual challenges.

Recontextualizing Social Work in a Globalized World

As the professional agenda of social work continues to spread globally, certain voices are privileged in the construction of what constitutes valid social work practice and education. Within the South Pacific Islands, the ongoing colonial legacy, engagement with foreign aid, and influence of globalization contribute to an environment where Western models of social work may supersede or drown out efforts to integrate models of Western and non-Western practice. Despite the trend to adopt Western models of practice, the neo-liberal prerogative underpinning many such approaches fails to address issues of social and ecological injustice. In response, Pacific constructions of social work encourage a more relational and collaborative model of practice with a focus on social connection rather than ‘outcome'. Ultimately, in the context of increasing globalization, the social work profession should foster a rich and diverse understanding of social work practice by embracing indigenous and localized understandings of research, education, and practice.

Social Work, Op-Shops, and Job Training

Many disadvantaged young people and adults, long and short-term unemployed, overseas arrivals/refugees, people with mental health issues, mothers returning to the workforce, and those disconnected from their communities have lost hope of ever getting employment. Numerous employment-training programs are narrowly-focused classroom-based simulations provided on a sessional basis, while real-world job training opportunities with flexible entry/exit points and on-site professional social work support for those disconnected from employment opportunities are uncommon. The STEP program, an innovative and engaging real-world training program in an opportunity shop (op-shop), gives hope and job success to disaffected people, offering life-changing training in every aspect of running a business in the retail and office administration sector as well as teaching valuable life skills, including job interviews, accounts and administration, and customer service.

Power, Politics, and Social Work

In this chapter some reflections are examined linking social work with power and politics. These reflections are raised from a Latin American and decolonial perspective. The urgency and the need to reinvent social work around the world is argued in view of the deepening of social inequalities caused by a capitalist-colonial-patriarchal social order. Likewise, the need to build a political view of social work is argued, as well as a greater commitment to social movements and their struggles to transform these social inequalities and the current social order. Theoretical reflections are accompanied by historical evidence that illustrates these struggles, as well as experiences of professional practices of social work. These reflections are also linked to the themes of the global agenda for social work and social development, as well as the world definition of social work by the International Federation of Social Workers.