The New Social Work Radicalism

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The New Social Work Radicalism CONTENTS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND VOLUME 29 • NUMBER 2 • 2017 SOCIAL WORK ISSN: 2463-4131 (Online) 1 Editorial Qualitative research 83 “What’s his is his and what’s mine is his”: Financial 1 Is there a renaissance of radical social work? power and the economic abuse of women in Aotearoa Heather Fraser, Liz Beddoe, Neil Ballantyne Ang Jury, Natalie Thorburn, Ruth Weatherall 6 Original Articles 97 A qualitative exploration of the unique challenges facing older men with haemophilia and the implications for Theoretical research social work practice 6 Rising wealth and income inequality: A radical social Sarah E. Elliott, Kelsey L. Deane, Barbara Staniforth work critique and response 110 Hospitals, nationality, and culture: Social workers, Christine Morley, Philip Ablett experiences and refl ections Qualitative research Doris Testa 19 Radical practice in a risk-averse environment: Learning Theoretical research from ATD Fourth World UK 122 Educating on anti-oppressive practice with gender and Hannah Blumhardt, ATD Fourth World UK, Anna Gupta sexual minority elders: Nursing and social work perspectives Theoretical research Margaret Pack, Peter Brown 34 Reshaping political ideology in social work: A critical perspective Qualitative research Filipe Duarte 133 Primary health care social work in Aotearoa New Zealand: An exploratory investigation 45 The renaissance will not be televised Stefanie Döbl, Liz Beddoe, Peter Huggard Angelika Papadopoulos 56 Critical Language Awareness: A beckoning frontier in 145 Book Reviews social work education? 145 Australia’s welfare wars: The players, the politics and the ideologies Clement Chihota —Philip Mendes (3rd ed) Commentary 149 Expanding the conversation: International Indigenous social workers’ insights into the use of Indigenist knowledge and theory in practice 69 The new social work radicalism —Christine Fejo-King and Peter Mataira (Eds) Iain Ferguson 151 Blinded by science: The social implications of epigenetics and 71 Revitalising radical social work neuroscience—David Wastell and Susan White Linda Briskman 154 The Alternative—Lisa Nandy MP, Caroline Lucas MP and Chris Bowers (Eds.) Extended viewpoint 75 Competent solidarity: the alternative for professional 156 Practising critical refl ection to develop emancipatory change —Christine Morley social work Alastair Russell VOLUME 29 • NUMBER 2 • 2017 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK EDITORIAL Is there a renaissance of radical social work? Radical and critical social work are the widened (Mendes, 2017; Rashbrooke, 2013), focus of this special issue of Aotearoa and human rights abuses are plentiful, New Zealand Social Work. For this issue we so much so that it is tempting for social commissioned shorter commentary pieces by workers, new and old, to adopt fatalistic Iain Ferguson and Linda Briskman and an positions about injustice and oppression. extended review by Mike O’Brien. We called It is tempting to think that how life is now for articles which addressed the agenda is how it has always been, and always will for renewed interest in radical and critical be, that nothing can be done, that, to quote approaches. Simply defined, radical social the slogan of Margaret Thatcher, “There is work usually includes those approaches no alternative”. identified as Marxist, socialist, structural, feminist, anti-racist, anti-disablist and anti- Rather than surrendering to a politics of oppressive (see for instance, Baines, 2006; despair (Mullaly, 2001), we take the view that Collins, 1986; Dominelli & Campling, 2002; social workers need to re/politicize their Ife, 2012; Lavalette, 2011; Mendes, 2017; purpose. In a recent article entitled “Taking Mullaly, 2007). Class-based domination a political stance in social work” David and oppression are crucial to radical social McKendrick and Stephen Webb (2014, p.359) workers (Lavalette, 2011; Mendes, 2017; wrote: Mullaly, 2007). Critical social work overlaps with but also differs from radical social We are persuaded, often by ourselves, work in its appreciation of post-modern and that radical politics is futile. So we tend post-structural ideas in understanding how towards compromise, resignation and power, domination, control and resistance indifference. Mainstream liberal social can operate (see Allan et al., 2003; Beddoe & work discourse has a tendency to limit Maidment, 2009; Briskman, 2007; Ife, 2012; and even dislodge our experience of Morley, MacFarlane, & Ablett 2014). Across what is important and urgent. It tries to the radical and critical social work spectrum, persuade us that social work is politically there is a shared interest in power relations neutral. Thus, it can take over our voice and the power of language to reproduce and regulate our feelings into ones of social inequality; the differential impact apathy or disinterest. of social inequality on particular groups; the goals of social transformation; and the In this special issue many contributors possible forms of resistance, given contexts urge social workers not to shut down and resources. through political apathy and disinterest. They urge us not to fall into the trap of Critical and radical social workers are well hyper-individualising social problems. aware that neoliberal global capitalism has For instance, in his commentary “The intensified the problems of inequality in new social work radicalism” Iain Ferguson aggressive ways. Universities and public points out the growing obsession with welfare organisations alike have been psychological explanations for poverty. corporatised and managerialised creating Neoliberalism has made it hard to even work cultures that increasingly expect imagine what an egalitarian society conformity and compliance (Fraser & Taylor, might look like. The drive for pragmatism AOTEAROA 2016). Under neoliberal global capitalism, can also make the search for ‘radical’ NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL the gulf between the rich and poor has (or transformative) alternatives feel so WORK 29(2), 1–5. VOLUME 29 • NUMBER 2 • 2017 AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK 1 EDITORIAL out-of-step with others. Yet, this is precisely book “Australia’s welfare wars: The players, what we must do. We must be part of a the politics and the ideologies” Mike O’Brien movement that re-imagines our contexts rightly speaks of the willful disregard of and presses for changes to more closely structural causes of rising poverty for so resemble the values of democracy, fairness many across the world, in and beyond and equality. Linda Briskman implores us affluent Western countries; also of the to do exactly this in her commentary article convergence of so many major political “Revitalising radical social work”. parties to neoliberal welfare austerity. In this climate, social workers are challenged to Critical, radical and structural social workers do more than put band-aids on the injuries appreciate that unemployment, poverty caused by cuts to incomes, social housing and homelessness are debilitating social and other basic services. problems in many people’s lives (Lavalette, 2011; Mullaly, 2007; Morley et al., 2014). Yet, From the Auckland Action Against Poverty these issues are often reduced to individual (AAAP), Alastair Russell challenges deficits, either by ignoring them altogether or social work’s pursuit of professionalism, diminishing their impact. To quote Ferguson particularly during a time of ‘no politics’ in this issue, “…psycho-compulsion usually funding embargoes on NGOS with means the use of positive psychology government contracts. In his commentary, approaches to encourage an ‘improved’ “Competent solidarity: the alternative for attitude to finding work”. He notes the professional social work”, Russell argues growing but still relatively small movement that: of ‘radical’ social workers. We say ‘radical’, in inverted commas, because many of the Professional social work is taught as if it ideas and activities purported to be radical exists within a political vacuum, largely are designed to pursue social equality, which devoid of class analysis and is incapable should not be radical to social workers. For of addressing issues of poverty and those wondering if neoliberal social work oppression…Within social work there has a place alongside other forms we say is a clear emphasis on working with that it cannot. Managerialism, consumerism individuals who have a problem, who and the privatisation of social work—the are deemed to be dysfunctional. In this three pillars of neoliberalism—cannot deliver context, it is easy to ignore the need for social work’s commitment to social justice to social change. ‘end users’ or workers. Neoliberalism is not designed to be fair, just, empathic or even As an experienced supervisor of social compassionate. To quote Ferguson again: work students on field placements, Russell calls for a paradigm shift where social …neoliberal social work challenges the workers place political purpose at the very essence of social work as a value- centre of their thinking. It is through this based, relationship-based profession. In politicised engagement that social workers its place it offers a technical occupation can then stand alongside the impoverished whose primary concerns are with and oppressed, rather than above or apart rationing scarce services [and] controlling from them. Providing examples from the ‘troublesome families’… AAAP, he shows how benefits advocacy—or advocacy undertaken to ensure communities Furthermore, while we work often at the receive their full welfare entitlements—is an local and national levels, Briskman
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