Perspectives on European Social Work: From the Birth of the Nation State to the Impact of Globalisation

by Walter Lorenz

Although being linked to the nation state project, the social work professions in Europe always strove to internationalize and universalize their discourses. This book explores historically and comparatively the dynamic interchange between state social policies, civil society movements, and academic discourses in Europe that account for the puzzling diversity of this professional field. Inferiority in comparison with other professions in relation to autonomy in practice and research was frequently perceived as problematic, but the engagement with civil society and political structures needs to be seen in a new light. Today, under the impact of post-modernity and globalization, the identities and professional status of social work have become uncertain everywhere. Historical and political reflections have renewed relevance as societies in Western and Eastern Europe face the challenges of a complete re-working of public and private arrangements of social solidarity, and welfare personnel are drawn into an agenda of "activation" that suggests a renewed split between deserving and undeserving clients. A trans-national perspective of practice is proposed that confronts these challenges and methodologies that realize the personal and political potential of hermeneutic competences. The case is made that all social work practice in Europe today requires a strong intercultural and anti-racist dimension.

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006