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Part I
Theoretical Perspectives
Ursula Kämmerer-RĎtten, Alexandra Schleyer-Lindenmann, Beatrix Schwarzer and Yafang Wang
Introduction
Part I of this book concentrates on theoretical discourses concerning professional social work in international and transnational contexts. While international developments and dialogue regarding professional social work have largely been confined to academic exchanges, worldwide social work practice is based on, and often confronted primarily with, local, regional and national developments. Only more recently are professionals becoming involved in transnational issues as they deal with problems caused by global inter-dependencies, international conflicts and transnational movements/migrations.
Since its birth in the last third of the nineteenth century social work has become a global profession practised in more than 144 countries (IASSW 2012). Its spread and development have been accompanied by a drive to attain professional status (Weiss-Gal and Welbourne 2008) and international activities and engagement have led to an ever growing professional community networking globally and crossing boundaries and areas of practice.
In 2003 Ahmadi observed that:
International migration makes poverty, political and religious oppressions, and the lack of civil rights in one society the concern of other societies. Woman trafficking and sex tourism make the sexual exploitation of women and children in one part of the world the moral, legal and public health concern of other parts. Low wages, harsh work conditions and the exploitation of an underage work force in one country affect national employment policies and labour markets in other countries.
(Ahmadi 2003: 15)
These examples offer striking proof that the transnational perspective is becoming more and more integral to social work professions both in theory and practice. It is therefore important to address issues of human rights and social justice from a transnational perspective and provide insight into specific areas of transnational social work to foster shared understanding and collective responsibility.
Against a background of globalisation, rising social problems can originate from one nation or from a set of nations, but have regional and continental effects. In 2015, the movement of people inside and across national borders reached its highest level since the beginning of records on this issue (UNHCR). This has led to the need to reformulate national social policies and practice as well as representing a further challenge to social work strategies. In addition this has led to the emergence of Transnational Social Work (TSW) as a new concept which gained recognition in the field of social work around the turn of the twenty-first century.
Levitt and Glick Schiller define transnational processes as follows: âThe term transnationalism or transnational processes emphasize [sic] the ongoing interconnecting or flow of people, ideas, objects or capital across border [sic] of nation-statesâ (Levitt and Glick Schiller 2004: 5).
But is crossing a border a necessary condition to label a social issue transnational and are all cross-border movements automatically a concern for social work?
Beatrix Schwarzer stipulates that transnational exchanges of people, ideas and goods are not always related to social work. Not all migrants are potential clients and not all transnational political decisions are suitable for support by social work as a human rights profession. The transnational perspective, for Schwarzer, is not restricted to the social work fields directly confronted with migrants or intercultural exchange but rather, challenges social work as a discipline and profession as such. Social work is primarily based on unmarked national identity and stereotypes, which can function as an underlying force in the construction of âOthernessâ.
The terms âinternational social workâ and âtransnational social workâ are often confused. However, they do not share the same meaning and origin. International social work has a longer history â emerging initially in the global north â and serves as a foundation for exchange between social workers from different countries. In her chapter, Ute Straub starts by giving an account of international professional activities and relevant networks and organisations and their objectives. She then widens the picture of largely Western-based concepts produced by the global north and questions the âWesternnessâ by confronting it with indigenous approaches from the global south.
The integration of Western and indigenous approaches is also highlighted by Arvind Agrawalâs contribution. He reviews theoretical developments in social work by focusing on Western theoretical approaches and contrasting them with Indian philosophy. After recalling relevant classical approaches including social capital theory, empowerment theory as well as the capability approach, the author reflects upon classical Indian theories such as Jainism, the Bishnois Sectâs philosophy and Gandhian ideas, and he argues the need for an integrated theoretical paradigm for transnational social work.
Finally, Dagmar Oberlies considers transnational social work within the framework of social work as a human rights profession. She points out that human rights are embedded in global political processes. This formulation of human rights is challenged by religious, regional, ideological and ethical perspectives. At the same time human rights function as a global ethical framework for social work. This leads to tensions mirrored in contrasts such as individualism versus collectivism-based approaches or rights-based versus culturally sensitive perspectives.
References
Ahmadi, N., 2003. âGlobalisation of consciousness and new challenges for international social workâ, International Journal of Social Welfare 12: 14â23. Available from: http://ehs.siu.edu/socialwork/_common/documents/articles/ahmadi.pdf [Accessed 15 April 2016].
IASSW, 2012. Directory of Social Work Schools/Programs [online]. International Association of Schools of Social Work. Available from: www.iassw-aiets.org/uploads/file/20121025_IASSW-Directory-October-2012.pdf [Accessed 14 December 2015].
Levitt, P., and Glick Schiller, N., 2004. âConceptualizing Simultaneity. A Transnational Social Field Perspective on Societyâ, International Migration Review 38(145): 595â629.
UNHCR. The refugee story in data and statistics [online]. UN Refugee Agency. Available from: www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c4d6.html [Accessed 10 January 2016].
Weiss-Gal, I., and Welbourne, P., 2008. âThe professionalisation of social work. A cross-national explorationâ, International Journal of Social Welfare 17(4): 281â90.
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1
Transnational social work
An introduction
Beatrix Schwarzer
âThe world is getting smallerâ is a phrase most people agree on. Virtual social networks offer the possibility of being a part of events happening thousands of miles away from where they take place. The so-called Arab Spring is just one example. Knowledge can travel fast and information can be accessed through the Internet in no time. Literally more and more people cross national borders â often more than once â to live elsewhere. Reasons can be manifold, such as holidays, seeking work or refuge, moving closer to family members or friends, experiencing a different part of the world by voluntary work or studying, to mention but a few. The duration of the stay is variable, from merely a couple of days to an entire lifetime. Often national borders are crossed multiple times, and migration can no longer be seen as a one-off process of simply leaving a country and spending the rest of oneâs life in another (Lightman 2012). However, out of these many diverse crossings, only a few are of concern to social work theory and practice.
Generally speaking, social work focuses on groups of people whose âglobal basic needsâ (Gil 2012: 20) are neglected or who are facing structural inequalities. Social work is connected to local and national structures such as law and social security on the one hand and is also responsible for individual people on the other.
The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
(IFSW 2012).
Transnational social work (TSW) shares this basic foundation with social work in general but can also be understood as a critical perspective pointing to unseen, unmarked and unnoticed boundaries of Social Work (Levitt and Glick Schiller 2004; Lightman 2012). It is related to crossing and transcending national borders and is influenced by the diversity of migration and refugee processes. In this chapter, I will take a critical view on three issues TSW is concerned with: (1) the boundaries embedded in social work through the often unnoticed relation to the nation state; (2) the part social work plays in questions of cultural norms and belonging; and (3) pointing to unmarked ground. Finally, the difficulties resulting from the wide variety of fields of social work will be explored â from supporting individual well-being to structural (in-)equalities. All these share a concern with the impact global and international developments have in social work.
TSW can open the spectrum of theoretical thinking in social work by taking into account the context of hybrid formations of different national and cultural backgrounds when working with individuals. Hybrid formations in the present context are:
- The diverse cultural influences impacting on everyday life, such as questions of belonging and identity of the individual or group;
- The play of different cultures in forming specific social networks, including belonging to certain communities with similar life challenges;
- The tensions with social and cultural norms that can result in social isolation for individuals which might reduce possibilities for social participation and political involvement as well as difficulties claiming rights;
- The special needs of clients which might not be recognised and therefore taken seriously by social workers; clients not infrequently find support only outside the profession, like family, community or social networks, including those outside the nation state they live in.
Taking plural local connections seriously also means to focus on social, political and economic structures in and around social work. Generally speaking, TSW demands complex knowledge of thinking and working in the field. Social work practices as well as theoretical thinking have to be related to global processes and developments, whilst at the same time being embedded in local structures and contexts.
Critical perspectives on the nation state as a container
Social work struggles with the complexity of a wide spectrum of responsibilities ranging from individual needs to struggles against structural inequalities. Questions arise, such as: What are the boundaries of social work and what are its main aims and targets? Which boundaries should social work accept, and which need to be challenged? Should social work position itself in political debates or should it be neutral?
On the international level, developments such as globalisation influence social interdependencies all around the world (Lyons and Huegler 2012; Faist 2011). International associations for social work (e.g. IASSW/ISSW/ICSW) have increasingly addressed important issues such as post-colonialism and globalisation over the last decades. These associations have highlighted that principles of human rights, social justice, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are global fundamentals basic to social work (Gray et al. 2010; Midgley 2001, 2010).
The complex relationship between the international and the national level is the focus of the Human Rights debate (Soysal 2011). Human Rights build the framework for international social work, and therefore social work is often called âthe Human Rights professionâ (Staub-Bernasconi 2012) and theories, strategies and practices are judged to these exacting standards. Conflicts arise when the global importance of human rights and social rights clash with restrictions such as supporting only people with a certain national citizenship. These conflicts are at play in everyday social work practice, they define the spectrum of issues that social work is concerned with, the finances of organisations and the access to basic rights like safety, housing, education and food (Gil 2012).
On the national level, the nation state is often seen as a container (Herz and Olivier 2013; Furman et al. 2008) â there is a defined inside and outside. Inside this container, welfare strategies and social policies are taking place and a common history is being constructed. Outside the container there are other containers. Human rights are meant to cut through this division but questions remain as to how that should be played out in everyday practices at a certain place in the world. This problem also arises in the education of social workers; social work professional education focuses mainly on the national context â often without naming these boundaries of knowledge and the resulting ...
