SCWK2006 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15 and 17: Precarious Work, Structural Level, Neoliberalism
10 May 2018
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SCWK2006- WEEK 4 READINGS
Chapter 15 "Social Work Activism Amidst Neoliberalism" of Doing Anti Oppressive
Practice
• Chapter argues that current constructs that see frontline and structural level practice
not as a continuum of ways to engage in social change but as separate and distinct
spheres of action serve only to label our allies as inadequate
• Social work in western countries is characterised by ongoing restructuring and
reorganizing in our workplaces and an increase in precarious work
• Neoliberal globalisation also presents serious challenges for social workers seeking to
engage in anti-oppressive activism
o Baines (2007) - "anti-oppressive social work has become harder to do because of
the increasingly aggressive nature of globalisation and neoliberal governments
response to the processes of global integration"
o Under neoliberalism, people have become consumers of service, rather than
citizens with entitlements and rights to care and support
The Traditional Binary Approach to Social Work Activism: Direct Service versus
Structural Action
• Wide variance regarding what kinds of actions constitute activism
• Direct service or frontline realm of resisting social injustice
o Social workers activism is aimed at changing the immediate environments and
institutions harming the individuals and community with whom we work
• Other social workers tend to advocate for a conceptualision of activism centred on
actions targeted at the more "structural" level
o Integrate efforts into larger collective strategies aimed at systemic
transformation
Direct Service
• Best way to resist the challenges of neoliberalism is to engage in more individual
action
• Often the most viable forms of activism that workers in conventional settings can
engage in
• Meets immediate needs
• Limitations
o Less able to cultivate a widespread understanding of how to operate effectively
within and against neoliberal policies
o Strategies undertaken are not sufficient, in and of themselves, to build the
breadth and depth of transformation required to ensure everyone's socio-
political economic entitlements
• Work does not necessarily expose or challenge the insufficiencies in
resources or reframe front line tensions as systemic rather than individual
issues
Structural Level Activism
• Attempts to change those institutional arrangements, social processes, and social
practices that work together to benefit the dominant group at the expense of
subordinate groups
• Proactive actions
• Limitations
o Crucial to connect with individuals
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