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The Routledge Handbook of Postcolonial Social Work reflects on and dissects the challenging issues confronting social work practice and education globally in the post-colonial era. By analysing how countries in the so-called developing and developed world have navigated some of the inherited systems from the colonial era, it shows how they have used them to provide relevant social work methods which are also responsive to the needs of a postcolonial setting.
This is an analytical and reflexive handbook that brings together different scholars from various parts of the world – both North and South – so as to distill ideas from scholars relating to ways that can advance social work of the South and critique social work of the North in so far as it is used as a template for social work approaches in postcolonial settings. It determines whether and how approaches, knowledge-bases, and methods of social work have been indigenised and localised in the Global South in the postcolonial era.
This handbook provides the reader with multiple new theoretical approaches and empirical experiences and creates a space of action for the most marginalised communities worldwide. It will be of interest to researchers and practitioners, as well as those in social work education.
The Western or Northern conceptions of civil society, based on classical liberal thought, are the main reference points for interpreting civil society in the global South within development studies and practice. From a critical postcolonial epistemological perspective, we will question many of the key assumptions underlying this approach. Having been involved in the various steps of framing a civil society research project in Mozambique, a project that aimed to look at the conceptual considerations necessary for civil society studies in the global South, we share in this chapter some methodological learning generated from the project and our previous experience. We work through some of the various understandings of civil society in Mozambique based on our analysis of the country context, covering the colonial period of the late nineteenth century up to contemporary postcolonial times, and provide a brief overview of various aspects of civil society and their political-societal significance. Based on preliminary research conclusions we will then put forward some broader epistemological and methodological hypotheses for civil society research in a Southern context.
In Ireland the role of development NGOs is rarely interrogated. There is, rather, a shared discourse across the government, NGO and academic sectors which does not really encourage critical enquiry. Yet, in light of the recent Oxfam and Goal scandals, we must ask, as critical-engaged intellectuals, if development NGOs are now ‘part of the problem’ or ‘part of the solution’ to use a 1960s phrase. After a brief context- setting section Why Now? which discusses recent events around the NGOs, we start our enquiry with a set of Deconstructions of relevant terms such as ‘development’, ‘civil society’, ‘human rights’ and the term ‘NGO’ itself, too often referred to in reverential or uncritical ways in the NGO literature and more widely. We then move on to consider whether it is a case of Irish exceptionalism which explains why the political economy of development and NGOs debate in Ireland seems so insulated from international debates. Finally, we open up a Discussion which tries to pose some of the main matters arising from our enquiry. We understand our discussion might seem challenging to some, but we think we are right to pose the issues and hope we might spark an open debate on whether NGOs are part of the solution or, rather, part of the problem. This debate is too important to be left to the NGOs alone.
By demonstrating that Western conceptions of 'civil society' have provided the framework for interpreting societies in the Global South, Decolonizing Civil Society in Mozambique argues that it is only through a critical deconstruction of these concepts that we can start to re-balance global power relationships, both in academic discourse and in development practices.
Examining the exclusionary discourses framing the support for Western-type NGOs in the development discourse - often to the exclusion of local social actors - this book dissects mainstream contemporary ideas about 'civil society', and finds a new means by which to identify local forms of social action, often based in traditional structures and spiritual discourses.
Outlining new conceptual ideas for an alternative framing of Mozambique's 'civil society', Kleibl proposes a series of fresh theoretical issues and questions alongside empirical research, moving towards a series of new policy and practice arguments for rethinking and decolonizing civil society in the Global South.
Internationale Soziale Arbeit neu denken - Zur Verschärfung Globaler Ungleichheit durch COVID-19
(2020)
Covid-19 hat sich über die ganze Welt ausbreitet und kann sie an den Rand eines ökonomischen und politischen Kollapses führen. Das Virus trifft zwar alle, doch mit Unterschieden. Die Krankheit wird zum einen die sozialen Probleme in den reichen Gesellschaften des Nordens verändern und auch vergrößern, doch insbesondere in den Ländern des Globalen Südens kann der Ausbruch in seinen ökonomischen und sozialen Folgen verheerend sein. Kann der Globale Norden noch eindämmende und die Folgen abfedernde Maßnahmen etablieren, so schlagen die Auswirkungen im Globalen Süden voll durch. In diesen Gesellschaften sind verheerende Folgen zu erwarten, die Armut, Elend, Hunger und Migrationsbewegungen intensivieren werden. Dadurch wird aber auch die Globale Ungleichheit zwischen den Nationen größer. In dieser Krise wäre Solidarität über nationale Grenzen hinweg gefragt; doch genau diese ist kaum erkennbar. Die Internationale Soziale Arbeit ist aufgefordert, ihre Ausrichtung neu zu definieren.
Das Corona Virus bzw. die Krankheit Covid-19 ist zu einer Pandemie geworden, die sich über die ganze Welt ausbreitet und diese an den Rand eines völligen ökonomischen und politischen Kollaps führen kann. In nahezu allen Ländern ist es inzwischen angekommen. Es trifft zwar alle, doch darin offenbaren sich Unterschiede. Die Krankheit wird zum einen die sozialen Probleme in den reichen Gesellschaften des Nordens verändern und auch vergrößern, doch insbesondere in den Ländern des Globalen Südens kann der Ausbruch in seine ökonomischen und sozialen Folgen verheerend sein. Kann der Globale Norden noch eindämmende und die Folgen abfedernde Maßnahmen etablieren, so schlagen die Auswirkungen im Globalen Süden voll durch. In diese Gesellschaften sind verheerende Folgen zu erwarten, die Armut, Elend, Hunger und Migrationsbewegungen intensivieren werden. Dadurch wird aber auch die Globale Ungleichheit zwischen den Nationen größer. In dieser Krise wäre Solidarität über nationale Grenzen hinweg gefragt; doch genau diese ist kaum erkennbar. Gleichzeitig ist auch Internationale Soziale Arbeit aufgefordert, ihre Ausrichtung neu zu definieren.
Verärgerte Geister und Götter? Naturkatastrophen, Krisen, Hexerei und religiöse Attacken in Mosambik
(2019)
This book is a novel contribution to academic discourses on the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and how it has impacted societies globally. It proffers an overview on the social development and political measures, from both the Global North and Global South, to prevent COVID-19's spread. It illuminates major social, political and economic challenges that already existed in different contexts and which are also currently being amplified by COVID-19. Curiously, this global pandemic has opened spaces for different actors, across the globe, to begin to fundamentally question and challenge the hegemony of the Global North, which sometimes is evident in social work. Linked to the foregoing and while reflecting beyond the pandemic and into the future, the book proposes that social work must become more political at all levels, and strive to transform societies, global social development efforts, and economic and health systems.
This contributed volume of 38 chapters discusses and analyses ethical, social, sociological, social work and social development issues that complement and enrich available literature in the socio-political, economics, public health, medical ethics and political science. It provides various case studies which should enable readers to gain insights into how countries have responded to the pandemic and learn how COVID-19 negatively impacted countries in different parts of the world. This book also provides a platform for the articulation of neglected and marginalized voices, such as those of indigenous populations, the poor, or oppressed. The chapters are grouped according to three main themes as they relate to research on the COVID-19 pandemic and social work in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America:
- Analysis: Social Issues and the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Strategies and Responses in Social Work: Globally and Locally
- Outlook: Looking Ahead Beyond the Pandemic
Intended to engage a global, diverse and interdisciplinary audience, The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development is a timely and relevant resource for academics, students and researchers in inter alia Social Work, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, and Development Studies.
Soziale Arbeit des Südens
(2021)
Im Globalen Süden stellen sich immer wieder neue und andere Themen und soziale Problemlagen als im Globalen Norden. Aufgrund postkolonialer Entwicklungen ergeben sich Fragestellungen, die zum einen zur Anerkennung von Differenz und zum anderen zum Grenzdenken einladen. Innerhalb dieser Dynamik stellen sich insbesondere in Europa immer wieder neue ethische Fragestellungen zum Umgang mit Kolonialismus und Neokolonialismus und der Externalisierung von Folgen des westlichen, industrialisierten Entwicklungsmodels. In den Diskursen einer Sozialarbeit des Südens spielen folgende Kontexte eine essenzielle Rolle:
- die Sichtbarmachung der kolonialen Folgen sowie der Konflikte und Widersprüche, der Ausbeutung und der Ausgrenzung in den nachkolonialen Gesellschaften, die auf ihre Ursprünge zurückgeführt werden
- der genuin politische Anspruch zur Veränderbarkeit der Welt durch Akteur*innen, seien dies Bewegungen, Organisationen, Regierungen oder Menschen in ihren sozialen Beziehungen
- die Bestrebungen der Sozialen Arbeit im Süden über Prozesse der Indigenisierung und Authentisierung Eigenständigkeit zu erlangen, um sich aus der kolonialen Umklammerung des Nordens zu lösen.
Darin gewinnt die Debatte um indigenes, lokales und „pluriversales“ Wissen, als einem von den Prinzipen rationaler Vernunft unterschiedenem Wissenssystem, das gleichwohl auf Erfahrung und Diversität basiert, eine zentrale Bedeutung. Die Sozialarbeit des Südens beinhaltet und fokussiert immer auch einen politischen Anspruch und verfügt über eigene Methoden.
Debates about globalization and development underline global interconnectedness, although from mainly linear modernist economic perspectives. They divide the world into »developed« and »underdeveloped« regions, subordinating social change to economic progress. Social change is absorbed as something natural, ignoring the historic conditions under which »development« takes place. Concurrently, the dissolution of cultural self-conceptions plays an increasingly important role in intercultural philosophy. It claims that social change has always something to do with the threatening experiences of alienation as well as power interests and inequalities driving it. Critical development theories show the alienation of »development« from the radical social changes needed to transform the postcolonial conditions of globalization. Both intercultural philosophy and critical development theory confront this situation with their own disciplinary positionality, initiating the notion of border thinking.
Our aim is to problematise the dominant discourses and practices around civil society from a Southern perspective. We first examine critically, from a broadly Gramscian perspective, the way in which the concept of civil society has been deployed in development discourse. This highlights its highly normative and North-centric epistemology and perspectives. We also find it to be highly restrictive in a post-colonial Southern context insofar as it reads out much of the grassroots social interaction, deemed ‘uncivil’ and thus not part of duly recognised civil society. This is followed by a brief overview of some recent debates around civil society in Africa which emphasise the complexity of civil society and turn our attention to some of the broader issues surrounding state-society relations, democracy and representation in a Third World context, exemplified through our case study research in Mozambique, Inhassunge district (Zambézia Province). The privileging of Western-type Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as drivers of democracy and participatory development in Mozambique have considerable implications for current debates around good governance, civil society strengthening and social accountability programmes and strategies.
Der Caritasverband der Diözese Eichstätt e. V. verfügt über 37 Einrichtungen und beschäftigt etwa 2.400 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter. Etwa 27.500 Mitglieder tragen den Verband. In seiner fast hundertjährigen Geschichte (Gründung 1918) engagiert sich der älteste bayerische Diözesanverband in unterschiedlichen sozialen, medizinischen und pädagogischen Arbeitsfeldern. Die Eichstätter Caritas leistet heute auch umfassend Asylberatung und Arbeit für geflüchtete Menschen.
This paper seeks to problematize the dominant discourse and practice around civil society from a Southern perspective. We first critically examine the way in which the concept of civil society has been deployed in development discourse. This highlights its highly normative and North-centric epistemology and perspectives. We also find it to be highly restrictive in a Southern context insofar as it reads out much of the grassroots social interaction deemed ‘uncivil’ and thus not part of civil society.
Subsequent sections introduce a historical analysis of civil society development and a preliminary mapping of current civil society in Mozambique which begins to set out a more complex understanding of civil society, a concept sometimes reduced to the world of the NGO’s. This is followed by a report on a recent roundtable discussion with civil society actors in Mozambique that sparked our interest in this theme. This discussion also articulates a more complex and conflictual understanding of civil society than that held by many international NGO’s for example. Finally, we discuss some of the matters arising from our movement from the abstract (the deconstruction of the concept of civil society) to the concrete (our conversations with a range of civil society actors). This work is the start of a broad longer term project with partners in Mozambique seeking to map and thus better understand the complexity of civil society in a country widely seen as test case for development strategies.
Globalization results in the exclusion and marginalization of diverse categories of stakeholders at the local level in developing countries, while decentralization leads to integration and participation of some of these stakeholders. In this evolving process, increasingly facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the role of language and literacy, and their relationship with culture, have been given scant attention. ICTs facilitate language marginalization and homogenization, while it is an open question whether they contribute to language growth and survival. Within the context of development cooperation and natural resource management, the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network (CBNRM Net), which serves the global CBNRM community of practice, uses ICTs to communicate with its global membership. CBNRM Net is concerned with how globalization and decentralization is influencing traditional and modern CBNRM practices. This includes how the present massive use of ICTs to facilitate communication, relying largely on English, is affecting literacy and language in the area of traditional knowledge on CBNRM. The paper presents a framework for analyzing use of language, and impacts on culture, in online communication and networking.