Decolonising And Reimagining Social Work In Africa

"This book explores contemporary debates on decolonisation and indigenisation of social work in Africa and provides readers with alternative models, values, and epistemologies for reimagining social work practice and education that can be applicable to a wide range of countries struggling with similar concerns. It examines how indigenisation without decolonisation is just tokenistic since it is concerned with adapting, modifying Western models to fit local contexts or generating local models to integrate into the already predominantly contextually irrelevant and culturally inappropriate mainstream Western social work. By exploring decolonisation, which calls for dismantling colonialism and colonial thinking to create central space for indigenous social work as mainstream social work, especially in Africa, it goes beyond tokenistic decolonisation to articulate some of the indigenous social work practice and social policy models, values, ethics, and oral epistemologies that should take centre stage as locally relevant and culturally appropriate social work in African countries. It also addresses the question of decolonising research methodologies, highlighting some of the methods embedded in African indigenous perspectives for adoption when researching African social work. It will be of interest to all social work academics, students and practitioners and others interested in gaining insights into how colonisation persists in social work and why it is necessary to find ways to disrupt it"--

This book explores contemporary debates on decolonisation and indigenisation of social work in Africa and provides readers with alternative models, values, and epistemologies for reimagining social work practice and education that can be applicable to a wide range of countries struggling with similar concerns. It examines how indigenisation without decolonisation is just tokenistic since it is concerned with adapting, modifying Western models to fit local contexts or generating local models to integrate into the already predominantly contextually irrelevant and culturally inappropriate mainstream Western social work in Africa. By exploring decolonisation, which calls for dismantling colonialism and colonial thinking to create central space for indigenous social work as mainstream social work, especially in Africa, it goes beyond tokenistic decolonisation to articulate some of the indigenous social work practice and social policy models, values, ethics, and oral epistemologies that should take centre stage as locally relevant and culturally appropriate social work in Africa. It also addresses the question of decolonising research methodologies, highlighting some of the methods embedded in African indigenous perspectives for adoption when researching African social work. The book has been written with both the coloniser/colonised in mind and it will be of interest to all social work academics, students and practitioners, and others interested in gaining insights into how colonisation persists in social work and why it is necessary to find ways to disrupt it.

Re-imagining Social Work provides a unique perspective on how social work can evolve for the future.

Introduction and Chapter 10 available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book examines the contemporary social care realities and practices of Finland, a small nation with a history enmeshed in social relations as both coloniser and colonised. Decolonising Social Work in Finland: · Interrogates coloniality, racialisation and diversity in the context of Finnish social work and social care. · Brings together racialised and mainstream White Finnish researchers, activists and community members to challenge relations of epistemic violence on racialised populations in Finland. · Critically unpacks colonial views of care and wellbeing. It will be essential reading for international scholars and students in the fields of Social Work, Sociology, Indigenous Studies, Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Education.

This timely Routledge Handbook creates a much-needed space to explore what makes social work uniquely African, as well as shaping, informing, and influencing a new culturally relevant era of social work. The specific focus on social work education offers approaches to transition away from the hegemony of Western literature, knowledge, and practice models underpinning African social work education. The authors identify what is relevant and meaningful to inform, influence, and reconceptualise culturally relevant social work curriculum. Covering Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the Handbook comprises both empirical and conceptual chapters, multiple approaches, case studies, and key debates on social work education. It is structured in four parts: • Approaches to Indigenising, Decolonising and Developing Culturally Relevant Social Work Education • Social Work Education: Evolution across Contexts • Embedding Field Practicum into Social Work Education • Knowledge Exchange between the Global South and Global North. The range of indigenous, local knowledge that the Handbook presents is crucial to social work evolving and facilitating for reciprocal learning and knowledge exchange between the Global South and Global North. Whilst the context of the Handbook is Africa, the topics covered are relevant to a global audience engaged in social justice work across social work, social welfare, social development, and sustainability.

Riding on the success of Indigenous Social Work Around the World, this book provides case studies to further scholarship on decolonization, a major analytical and activist paradigm among many of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, including educators, tribal leaders, activists, scholars, politicians, and citizens at the grassroots level. Decolonization seeks to weaken the effects of colonialism and create opportunities to promote traditional practices in contemporary settings. Establishing language and cultural programs; honouring land claims, teaching Indigenous history, science, and ways of knowing; self-esteem programs, celebrating ceremonies, restoring traditional parenting approaches, tribal rites of passage, traditional foods, and helping and healing using tribal approaches are central to decolonization. These insights are brought to the arena of international social work still dominated by western-based approaches. Decolonization draws attention to the effects of globalization and the universalization of education, methods of practice, and international ‘development’ that fail to embrace and recognize local knowledges and methods. In this volume, Indigenous and non-Indigenous social work scholars examine local cultures, beliefs, values, and practices as central to decolonization. Supported by a growing interest in spirituality and ecological awareness in international social work, they interrogate trends, issues, and debates in Indigenous social work theory, practice methods, and education models including a section on Indigenous research approaches. The diversity of perspectives, decolonizing methodologies, and the shared struggle to provide effective professional social work interventions is reflected in the international nature of the subject matter and in the mix of contributors who write from their contexts in different countries and cultures, including Australia, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.

Theories for Decolonial Social Work Practice in South Africa is a local book critically presenting social work theories that are suitable for decolonial and developmental generalist practice in the Global South. The choice of theories included in this book is informed by the lived experiences of South Africans in a multicultural, post-colonial, post-apartheid society. The book sees the goal of social work as effecting transformation and liberation, through the implementation of the developmental approach, and by drawing on decolonial and African concepts. It supports social workers in working toward this goal by stimulating critical reflection and disrupting taken-for-granted beliefs and practices. It guides readers to work with client groups across the micro-mezzo-macro continuum in such a way that they are empowered to develop agency, thereby affirming the basic values of social justice and human dignity.

This book addresses a recurrent gap in social work literature by examining Ubuntu as an Indigenous African philosophy that informs social work beyond the largely residual and individualistic conceptualisation of social work that currently prevails in many contexts. Owing to the lack of social work theories, models and generally, literature that is locally and contextually relevant, most social work lecturers based in African context, struggle to access learning materials and texts that centre local indigenous voices and worldviews. It is within this context that the ubuntu philosophy has gained traction. There is increasing consensus that Ubuntu as an African philosophy and way of life, has the potential to be used as a decolonising framework for social work education and practice. Theorising from Ubuntu can influence and be the foundation for African social work theory and knowledge, social work values and ethics, social work research and policy, and Ubuntu informing different fields of social work practice like social work with older people, children and young people, ubuntu and poverty alleviation, ubuntu and the environment, among others. Drawing together social workers engaged in education, research, policy, practice, to theorise Ubuntu and its tenets, philosophies, and values, this book shows how it can be a foundation for a decolonised, more relevant social work education and practice in African contexts.