Interactions between Social Work and International Development: Specific Points of Connection
Interactions between Social Work and International Development: Specific Points of Connection

Summary/Abstract: The fields of social work and international development appear to be linked at the level of their theoretical and methodological approaches, areas of activity, types of intervention, and end goals, with important implications for practice and social justice. Despite these apparent similarities, the interest towards understanding the interactions between social work and international development has been scarce within scholarly debates and the subject is yet to be addressed in a systematic manner. This paper aims at contributing to filling this gap by analysing the interactions between social work and international development using a scheme of classification based on two criteria of analysis: (a) the area of connection or the main social issues addressed, following the main issues reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): poverty, health, gender, environmental sustainability, global cooperation, and education, and (b) the level at which the interaction occurs, i.e. the theoretical/methodological, practical/professional and ethical/deontological levels. The multilevel analysis of the interaction between social work and international development led to the identification of several points of connection, which were constantly weighted against four related phenomena: internationalization, politicization, westernization, and professionalization. The analysis revealed very strong interdisciplinary ties between social work and international development, as well as a marked overlapping between the activities of international development professionals and those of social workers, geared by strikingly similar value bases. The interplay between the professionalization and internationalization phenomena creates a push towards transformational approaches in social work which appear to be strongly intertwined with international development.

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