European Social Work After 1989: East-West Exchanges Between Universal Principles and Cultural Sensitivity

This book explores the learning derived from East-West contacts in social work and emphasizes the discipline's trans-national dimensions. It discusses the impact of fundamental transformations in Europe after 1989 on social work, highlighting the exchanges between Western schools and academic partner institutions in former Communist countries. The chapters focus on lessons learned from these encounters, with direct implications for training and practice in changing contexts. The book is a valuable resource for social work educators, practitioners, students, and policy researchers interested in comparative studies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 211 pages
Publication date: 02 September 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book offers a distinctive examination of the learning gained from East-West interactions in social work, while also emphasizing the discipline's inherent transnational aspects, which are becoming increasingly relevant in the context of the resurgence of nationalisms. The profound transformations that occurred in Europe following the revolutions of 1989 had a significant impact on social work, particularly in terms of strengthening the profession's relationship with politics. The exchanges between Western schools of social work and the emerging academic partner institutions in former Communist countries served as a valuable platform for testing the fundamental principles and competencies of social work, with a focus on their universal scientific basis and their respect for cultural and national values and contexts.

The chapters included in this contributed volume delve into the lessons learned from fundamental social and political transformations, accentuated by East-West encounters and intra-national divisions, and thus hold significant implications for navigating forthcoming transformations in the context of the global COVID-19 health crisis. They showcase how cultural and social divisions can be addressed constructively, with direct implications for training and practice in rapidly evolving contexts.

Lithuanian social workers' pursuit of professional autonomy versus authoritarianism in popular and political culture

Social work between civil society and the state: Lessons for and from Hungary in a European context

When Europe's East, West, North, and South converge: Learning from cross-country collaboration in creating an international social work master programme

Nordic-Baltic cooperation in social work researcher education: A Finnish perspective on its impact on scientific development

Weight: 355g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030458133
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021