Migration and social transformation: from theory to engaged practice
- Globalisation has made geo-politics not an isolated issue but it must be seen as part of wider transformative processes. New emerging forms of global governance, in particular migration governance, although still discussed as a central national policy instrument in the wider normative political dialogues, have been further developed as forms of control over people which, through externalization processes, go far beyond national borders or continental patterns. Its divisive dynamics have strengthened new forms of unilateralism, stronger nationalism, populism and xenophobia, especially in Europe and North America, affecting countries in the Global South through so called “containment politics”. At the same time, economic mega-projects, extractive industries and land grabbing, as well as increasingly internal – often resource related – postcolonial conflicts, have led to more and more forced displaced people on the African continent. Examples thereof would be the new conflict in Northern Mozambique, which led to about 800.000 internally displaced people (IDPs) since 2017 or the so-called Anglophone Crises in Cameroon, which resulted so far in about half a million IDPs. Extractivism and exploitation of environmental resources without considering its environmental impact has also contributed to the worsening of the self-sustainability conditions of entire communities, forcing them to migrate. Xenophobia, resulting from continued racism as well as from the negative consequences of neoliberal policies for large parts of the populations, has taken on dangerous proportions in what has come to be known as xenophobic violent attacks in South Africa. These violent attacks, perpetrated by South Africans, against fellow Africans from other parts of Africa, have resulted in deaths, injuries and destruction of property. Unfortunately, at the receiving end of such attacks are mostly poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups such as refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants from the continent. Violent xenophobic attacks have contributed to the further displacement of sub-Saharan Africans in South Africa. What is worrying is that these attacks are becoming more and more frequent. Despite these narrowing and inward-looking tendencies, globalisation and related social, economic and cultural transformations are accelerating at a fast pace, making the world even more embedded and interconnected, a process in which digitalization plays a key part. In all these global upheavals, human development and social work should remain at the centre, given their mandate of advocating with and on behalf of the most marginalised (“option for the poor”). Thus, social justice, human rights and social inclusion across the world remain social work’s main mission and a very important task for the profession in terms of education, research and practice. Given this backdrop, it is imperative that social workers not only take critical note of the major shifts taking place momentarily and the various challenges and social ills that have global implications. Rather, they need to insert themselves into this global discourse by offering their unique social justice orientated paradigm and frameworks. This international winter/summer school, taking place in South Africa, aims to support and enhance North-South as well as South-South exchanges of academics, students and organizations working in the field of social work and (forced) migration. Of critical importance, young people, especially social work students, from both the Global South and North, need to be equipped with appropriate and relevant analytical skills to be able to navigate these turbulent times and be better prepared for the numerous complex challenges faced by social work and community practitioners, migrants and refugees in the field. In addition, they need to be exposed to progressive worldviews as well as new innovative research and practices. Academics from the fields of social work and migration need to invest in arriving at context relevant curricula and decolonizing teaching and research methodologies that tackle the issues mentioned above while practitioners need to make themselves familiar with current research trends and innovative practice approaches by learning from other parts of the “interconnected” world.