Radical and Critical Approaches in Contemporary Social Work
Radical and Critical Approaches in Contemporary Social Work

Cases of Activism and Advocacy-Oriented Practices in Selected Polish Civil Society Organizations

Author(s): Tinatin Tsertsvadze
Subject(s): Pedagogy
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: critical social work; social activism; advocacy; civil society; social movements; NGOs; case-study; Eastern Europe; Poland; Post-socialist social work
Summary/Abstract: Social workers often refer to social justice and overcoming oppression as one of the profession’s core values that are established as an ethical imperative. Such statements are emphasized in different documents about the profession on global as well as local levels. While many social work professionals are involved in the tireless fight against inequality and oppression, this research tries to challenge the professional statements that often are considered self-evident and explore how they are understood and incorporated in everyday practice.In today’s social climate when in many contexts social work is conducted primarily within state-run agencies, the concepts of radical and critical social work strategies for direct practice seem too theoretical or problematic to implement. Words such as social justice and oppression sound irrelevant for policymakers and the public, implying that radical and critical approaches in the field of social work are not vital or viable anymore. Therefore, this study takes Poland as a target country to explore the concepts of radical and critical approaches in contemporary social work by analyzing activism and advocacy-oriented practices in Polish civil society organizations. By applying the case-study methodology, field observations, and in-depth interviews with activists and social workers, this study also comes up with context-informed suggestions for the future social work practice to pursue the profession’s inherent aspiration towards social justice.

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