Résumés
Abstract
We have moved into an era some call the Anthropocene, a time when nothing is untouched by the seeming unending expansion of modern systems (political, economic, cultural, virtual) and their inevitable global impacts. In many ways, COVID-19 intensified our awareness of this global interconnectivity not only through contact-tracing the pandemic, but also through its varied impacts on modern systems that further highlighted our ongoing dance with global and local environmental changes. The interconnected nature of our climate of change is revealing to us the partial, dualistic and ultimately limited modern worldview that continues to constrict the social justice principles our vocation of social work holds as its ideal. Something is out of balance and we need to work upon this imbalance in ways that do not deny the loss, confusion, injustices and power-grabs highlighted in the wake of COVID-19. Through approaching our climate of change in this way, we are given an opportunity to reflect on social distancing in relation to honouring boundaries, the value of slowing down modern ways of living, and the need to look more closely at our modern blocks to a sustainable future on planet Earth; in other words our climatic truth-work. In this article, I reflect on what Canadian society, the social work profession and the international community have learned (or not learned) from the pandemic about the climate of cultural change before us.
Résumé
Nous sommes entrés dans une ère que certains appellent l’Anthropocène, une époque où rien n’est épargné par l’expansion apparemment sans fin des systèmes modernes (politiques, économiques, culturels, virtuels) et de leurs inévitables impacts mondiaux. À bien des égards, la pandémie de COVID-19 a intensifié notre prise de conscience de cette interconnexion mondiale, non seulement par le retraçage des contacts durant la pandémie, mais aussi par les impacts variés de celle-ci sur les systèmes modernes, qui ont mis en évidence nos ajustements continus face aux changements environnementaux, aux plans mondial et local. La nature interconnectée de notre climat de changement nous révèle la vision partielle, dualiste et finalement limitée du monde moderne qui continue à restreindre les principes de justice sociale que notre vocation, le travail social, considère son idéal. Nous faisons face à un déséquilibre et nous devons travailler sur celui-ci sans nier les pertes, la confusion, les injustices et les luttes de pouvoir mises en évidence dans le sillage de la COVID-19. En abordant notre climat de changement de cette manière, nous avons l’occasion de réfléchir à la distanciation sociale dans le sens du respect de nos propres limites, à la valeur du ralentissement des modes de vie modernes et à la nécessité d’examiner de plus près les obstacles modernes à un avenir durable sur la planète Terre; en d’autres termes, un travail de vérité climatique. Dans cet article, je réfléchis à ce que la société canadienne, la profession du travail social et la communauté internationale ont appris (ou pas) de la pandémie sur le climat de changement culturel qui nous attend.
Parties annexes
Bibliography
- Absolon, K. (2019). Reconnecting to creation: A spirit of decolonizing. In N. J. Profitt & C. Baskin (Eds.), Spirituality and social justice: Spirit in the political quest for a just world (pp. 43–64). Canadian Scholars.
- Blackstock, C. (2009). The occasional evil of angels: Learning from the experiences of Aboriginal peoples and social work. First Peoples Child and Family Review, 4(1), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.7202/1069347ar
- Boudreau, F., & Hill, G. (2020). Introduction. Canadian Social Work Review / Revue canadienne de service social, 37(2), 149–157. https://doi.org/10.7202/1075116ar
- Ghosh, A. (2016). The great derangement: Climate change and the unthinkable. University of Chicago Press.
- Hill, G. (2021). The supremacy of whiteness in social work: Raced; not erased. Canadian Social Work Review / Revue canadienne de service social, 38(2), 58–61. https://doi.org/10.7202/1086119ar
- Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). (2018). Summary for policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C approved by governments. IPCC. https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/
- Klein, N. (2014). This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. Alfred A. Knopf Canada.
- Leduc, T. B. (2010). Climate, culture, change: Inuit and Western dialogues with a warming north. University of Ottawa Press.
- Leduc, T. B. (2016). A Canadian climate of mind: Passages from fur to energy and beyond. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- M’Gonigle, M., & Starke, J. (2006). Planet U: Sustaining the world, reinventing the university. New Society Publishers.
- Paquette, M. (2016, January 13). Indigenous rights cut from Paris Agreement: Why it concerns us all. IC Magazine.https://intercontinentalcry.org/indigenous-rights-cut-from-paris-agreement-why-it-concerns-us-all/
- Schibli, K. (2020). CASW:Climate change and social work: 2020 position statement. Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW). https://www.casw-acts.ca/files/documents/SW_and_Climate_Change_Final_PDF.pdf
- The Paris agreement marks an unprecedented political recognition of the risks of climate change. (2015, December 15). The Economist.https://www.economist.com/international/2015/12/12/the-paris-agreement-marks-an-unprecedented-political-recognition-of-the-risks-of-climate-change
- Unist’ot’en. (2020). Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit 2020. Available online: https://unistoten.camp/supportertoolkit2020/ (accessed March 13, 2021).
- Watt-Cloutier, S. (2015). The right to be cold: One woman’s story of protecting her culture, the Arctic and the whole planet. Penguin Books Canada.
10.7202/1069347ar