Abstracts
Abstract
In this paper I raise two questions for greater collective disciplinary attention: What are the conditions of existence and the conditions of possibility of critical and justice-emphatic academic social work in the Canadian university system these days? And moreover, how might we—the “we” who read critical social theory and share a discipline—attempt to be accountable to these shifting conditions? I engage these questions with the help of critical literatures as well as an exploratory survey in which educators teaching in schools of social work in Canada were asked to identify texts and bodies of knowledge that they consider pivotal to understanding social work and social justice. Discussing educators’ responses, I identify a few nodes of thinking that would benefit from greater disciplinary attention, and I suggest one way we might focus on these shared problematics.
Keywords:
- academic social work,
- social justice,
- critical social work,
- social work education
Résumé
Dans cet article, je soulève deux questions qui méritent une plus grande attention collective de la part de notre discipline : Quelles sont les conditions d’existence (ce qui est) et les conditions de possibilité (ce qui pourrait être) actuelles du travail social universitaire critique et axé sur la justice sociale dans le système universitaire canadien? De plus, comment pouvons-nous - le « nous » impliquant ceux et celles qui lisent la théorie sociale critique et ont une discipline en commun - tenter de rendre compte de ces conditions changeantes? J’aborde ces questions à l’aide d’écrits critiques et d’une enquête exploratoire dans laquelle on a demandé à des formateurs(rices) dans les écoles de travail social au Canada d’identifier des textes et des corpus de connaissances qu’ils considèrent comme essentiels pour comprendre le travail social et la justice sociale. En discutant les réponses des formateurs(rices), j’identifie quelques éléments qui bénéficieraient d’une plus grande attention disciplinaire, et je suggère une façon de nous concentrer sur ces problématiques communes.
Mots-clés :
- travail social universitaire,
- justice sociale,
- travail social critique,
- formation en travail social
Appendices
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