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Feminism and Social Work: Where Next for an Engaged Theory and Practice?

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Feminism and Social Work: Where Next for an Engaged Theory and Practice? COMMENTARY Feminism and social work: Where next for an engaged theory and practice? Viviene Cree University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Feminism has never been far from the I could think about my parents’ decision not public eye over the last 10 years or so. Love to leave, and what that was about, for my it or loathe it, it has been out there, fighting grandparents and for themselves. What were to be heard, challenging and, some would the repercussions of this decision, at the time argue, reinforcing long-held stereotypes and then years later? And I could consider about what it is to be human and live in the intersections of social class and gender the world. But what does all this mean and ethnicity in my story. However for social work and social workers? Is the I try to make sense of my upbringing, the fact decision to lay claim to feminism (or not) remains. Thanks to my parents, I grew up purely a matter of individual choice, or is believing that we—as girls—should not be there something about social work that is, dependent on a man for our happiness. We or should be, fundamentally feminist? This should stand on our own feet and make our article will interrogate these questions more own successes in life, whatever they might fully, drawing on research undertaken on be. We should also care for others—family, feminism and social work over a number of friends, community—we had a duty to each years and also my experience of living and other (Christian teaching came to the fore breathing feminism for almost the whole of here). And these values were demonstrated my life. I start, as all feminists surely must, and, at the same time, undermined, in all with my personal story. the small and large contradictions and complexities that are inevitably part of The personal is political growing up. I grew up, the middle one of three girls, in Leaving home, I found a language for the an aspiring middle-class family in Scotland’s feelings of injustice that I experienced as fourth-largest city, Dundee. When we were a Scottish, grant-aided, female student small, my parents made the momentous now living and studying at an ancient decision to emigrate to New Zealand – to university. The women’s movement and the leave behind the none-too-warm climate and “broad Left” became my twin passions, and hopefully make a better life in a new land. But although my academic grades were never then my granny became ill, and they were not great, I learned a huge amount about life, willing to leave her, so I never knew the highs love and the world. I went on to become a and lows of emigration. My world remained community worker and later social worker, firmly small-town, East coast Scotland, until taking with me into adult life all the mélange I left home to go to university, with fees paid that had been my life to date. As the popular and a maximum grant, the first in my family feminist slogan reminds us: the personal is to enjoy such a privilege. political.1 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL There is so much that can be unpicked about Feminism and social work WORK 30(3), 4–7. this story…I could reflect on what it was like to grow up in the 1950s in a family of Social work has had an uneasy relationship three girls, close in age, with all the delights with feminism. In some ways, it has always CORRESPONDENCE TO: Viviene Cree of closeness and competition that were been feminist, in that since its beginnings, it [email protected] inevitably part-and-parcel of that childhood. has been concerned with social justice and 4 VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 3 • 2018 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK COMMENTARY with the well-being and living conditions of and anti-feminist, there were also many those who have lacked power—and this has social workers at the time who were often meant women and children. So, in the openly feminist; radical social workers late 19th century when social workers began and community workers who sought to to set up settlement houses at universities, bring about change, not only in their work housing projects in poor parts of cities, and with women, but also in social work with visiting charities for the sick and elderly, men. Much of the really innovative work their clients were often women, or women happened in projects designed to support and children. And many of the early social women. But criminal justice social work workers were also women—upper- and also sought to challenge and change men’s middle-class women who found adventure negative behaviours, in group work settings in charity work, escaping the confines of especially. Meanwhile across the world, their constrained lifestyles by engaging in women got together to fight for women’s “good deeds”. But early social work was, in rights, taking on issues such as rape, reality, far from feminist in its aspirations women’s education and, more recently, or value-base. The upper- and middle-class female genital mutilation.3 social workers saw no contradiction in exploiting the working-class women who Student social workers and looked after their households and children feminism while they engaged in “good works”. They also had no qualms about removing children I conducted research on social work from women who could not afford to look students’ views of feminism in Edinburgh, after them in order to give them what they Sydney and Auckland in 2008 and 2009, judged to be a “better life”. 2 and then again at six universities across the UK in 2013, with the help of my PhD This story is a familiar one across the student, Janan Dean. The research showed developed world, but it is the UK history two prevailing attitudes towards feminism I know best. As social work became amongst students: institutionalised through government legislation designed to offer a measure “I’m not a feminist but ...” (“I support of protection and welfare to individuals women’s rights and believe that women and families, so social workers became should be treated fairly etc.”) and “I am increasingly employed within local a feminist but ...” (“I am not anti-men, government agencies. At the same time, new segregationalist etc.”). (Cree & Dean, voluntary agencies sprang up in the 1960s 2015, p. 907) and 1970s, some, like Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis, with an overtly feminist orientation. In reality, there was very little distance It is not surprising that, at this time, social between the two sets of opinions; on the work and social workers came under contrary, there was a lot of agreement about attack, accused by feminist sociologists and the issues (which included the importance psychologists alike of neglecting the needs of women’s rights, equality of opportunity, and rights of women. This was demonstrated challenging gender-based violence, etc.). The in no uncertain terms by the sociologist Mary feminism which students identified with Maynard’s (1985) analysis of social work was a feminism that was very different to the case-files; she identified that social workers “bra-burning” stereotypes of “second-wave” routinely minimised harm, encouraging Women’s Liberation; instead, it was diverse, women to remain in home situations that contradictory, and allowed for individual were often difficult and dangerous. choice. As one 25-year-old woman said: “There are as many feminisms as there are While social work was being accused by women. It’s a really difficult concept to pin some in the 1980s of being anti-woman down” (Cree & Dean, 2015, p. 907). VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 3 • 2018 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK 5 COMMENTARY Reflecting on this in a journal article published North may have lost its way in a deluge of in 2015, Janan and I acknowledged that identity politics; it has lost sight of what students and faculty members’ experience was, and is, important about feminism. We of feminism may be very different, not least point out that real and persistent inequalities because of differences in age and background. remain, but these can sometimes be obscured We concluded that there was no single way by a policy and practice agenda that seems of being a feminist, just as there was no single to have embraced feminism—when male way of being a woman. We therefore needed politicians from both the political Right to find ways of opening up conversations and Left are willing to wear t-shirts that about feminism, exploring what a feminist declare themselves to be feminists, what understanding might bring to social work hope is there for feminism as a revolutionary theory, policy and practice. We suggested that force? We argue that feminism has been feminism offered opportunities to interrogate co-opted and commodified, at least in the everyday and to ground knowledge in Western democratic contexts. Meanwhile, experience (Harding, 1987); to question the debates within feminism (often expressed taken-for-granted and disrupt “settled ways through social media) threaten to fracture it of thinking”, to borrow a phrase from Connell completely; quarrels within feminism about (1989, p. xii) (Cree & Dean, 2015 p. 918).4 emancipation, intersectionality, free speech, sex work, pornography, trans people’s Recent challenges to feminism rights etc., etc., show no sign of abating. The #metoo movement which came to public Ruth Phillips from the University of Sydney attention in October 2017 and has remained and I have written about feminism more viral ever since is one such manifestation, recently, firstly in a journal article published as women (and some men) highlight in 2014 and then again in a book chapter that sexual harassment and assault while others will come out in 2019.
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