The social worker as intellectual
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the state of intellectual activity within social work under the conditions of neo-liberalism. It is motivated by concern with the demise of what previously was termed ‘bottom-up’ social work and a growing sense of despair amongst front line social workers regarding their capacity to engage with users, citizens and communities in ways other than those determined by managerial and regulatory mechanisms. This leads us into a discussion about the possibilities of what it might mean for social workers to think of themselves as ‘intellectuals’. It considers the different meanings of the term ‘intellectual’ and argues that social work has much to gain from the tradition which has identified new kinds of public sector professionals as ‘transformative intellectuals’.
Source: European Journal of Social Work
Authors: Gurnam Singh, Stephen Cowden
Institution: Coventry University
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1605037541