Since the middle of the 1990s, ‘difference’ has been a subject dealt with intensively in international social work theory. Migration and gender studies especially have drawn attention to the fact ...that clients of social work are not only ‘different’, but ‘differently different’. Our article presents three prominent approaches to difference in social work: neglect of the other, recognition of the other (by emphasizing the necessity of identity) and the deconstruction of differences between the other and the non-other (by reading the powerfulness of binary structured differences).
Underlying the shift from modern to postmodern conditions is a shift from the apparent stability of the post-World War II economic era to an economy of instability and unpredictability (
Harvey, 1989
...). Although the effects on society are different for modernism and postmodernism, the crisis is still one of the instability of capitalism. The results include an increase in part-time and subcontracted work combined with a quickening in the pace of life and the blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction. This leads to identity issues for individuals, families, and communities. This article argues that social workers need to have an understanding of the macro-level issues of postmodern conditions in order to be effective in direct practice.
A study of 35 nonprofessional helpers, identified as community "guides," focused on the contribution each made to helping marginalized individuals and families become a part of their communities. The ...lessons learned through these lay helpers can inform a postmodern social work practice that promotes the use of indigenous practice principles appropriate for work with and in culturally distinct communities. The practice wisdom of these guides demonstrates a need for professionals to reposition themselves in the associational life of a community, and to make their practice less visible. It is shown that an effective community-building practice that respects community solutions to individual and community problems requires permeable boundaries on the part of intervening professionals.
The measures and policies related to lifestyle that constitute the modern welfare state, generally called “social policy,” “social security” and “social welfare” (collectively referred to in this ...paper as “social welfare”), and knowledge concerning these measures and policies have been frequently criticized, in a similar way to school education, medical care and the judicial process, as “instruments of modern repressive governance” by Postmodernist theories. Postmodernist theories are the Modernist criticism that emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century from Jean-François Lyotard, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and others. These thinkers challenged and criticized the concepts and beliefs that are presupposed by modern knowledge. Furthermore, their Modernist criticism is related not only to the ideal form of knowledge, but also to real-world issues. These issues include the fact that the modern process, which has emphasized the idea of actualizing an affluent and fair society, in reality conceals an unfair distribution of continuously reproduced resources and power, forces predominant values such as Western and male-centric values onto people under the banner of “universality,” and that control of peopleʼs lifestyles and lives is increasingly intensified for the purpose of promoting the modern process. Leaving aside the question of whether social welfare has been realized during the previous few centuries, the object of pursuit was precisely the “actualization of an affluent and fair society.” Therefore, Postmodernist trends of thought can be said to be criticism that relates to the foundation of social welfare. This paper presents a categorization of how the various theories related to social welfare have responded to the Postmodernist criticism. One aim of this work is to examine the possibilities of social theory since Postmodernism. At the sametime, this paper also attempts to reflect on the workings of social welfare within society, which has an increasingly growing presence in recent years in Japan. With these purposes in mind, the paper first provides an overview of the Postmodernist criticism of social welfare. Next, the responses of social welfare to such criticism are categorized according to core trends in social welfare studies and the trends in normative theory, which philosophically supports the workings of social welfare. Through this work, it was demonstrated that the responses to Postmodernist criticism of social welfare are a reconsideration of the modern concept of the “subject” in social work theory, development of new support techniques, a movement to emphasize political action by social workers and introspective and reflective debates about the knowledge of social welfare with the key concept of “participation.” The conclusion of this paper is that among these various responses to Postmodernist criticism, the most constructive response has the key concept of “participation,” which keeps the workings of social welfare and related knowledge permanently open-ended via the realization of democratic dialogue. After confirming this point, the paper indicates a suitable position in which to situate thoughts regarding humans and society in late modern times suggested by the response which has “participation” as its key concept as a possibility of social theory since Postmodernism.
Recently, "postmodern" debates, such as "empowerment", "advocacy" or "narrative approach", have been popular among the studies of social work theory and practice. In these debates, we can find a ...common insight that regards social work theory as a "discourse". We, however, have not asked, what is "modern" for social work? And is social work a discourse? This paper explored as to why the "postmodern arguments" inevitably appear in social work theory. I focused on the implication of "modernity" on social work by analysing the professionalization process of social workers in the beginning of the 20th century. I also examined the relationship between social workers and clients, using the concept of "the other" presented by Spivak. The final purpose of this paper is to present a perspective of "self-reflection" in social work.
The article gives an overview of teaching community social work in Slovenia, outlines the social context, the position of community social work within the curriculum and the importance of research in ...preparing and evaluating community field projects. Training students for undertaking proposed collective actions in a post-modern world of difference is a rather complex and long-term process which is hard to achieve in the framework of the recognized structure of a university study programme and in the existing context of social work practice. Students have to address concepts and issues of post-modern community work by researching within a broader social context and into community needs, and by establishing a 'here and now' working relationship with the community members. This method of teaching, alongside regular community social work, does not fit into the practice of the existing social services. Although the declared principles are to consider user perspectives, the users are subordinate to the professional power.
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