Decolonizing Social Work
From Theory to Transformative Practice
Published on 30. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-350-36647-3 (ISBN)
Description
This open access edited collection provides a long-overdue examination of a practice that is continuously involved in managing, regulating, and subordinating individuals and communities.
While it is well established that neoliberal systems of population management are designed to target the "constructed other," there is considerably less research examining how social work in particular interacts with the vestiges of colonialism to further this practice. Gathering social work scholars and practitioners from around the world, this collection offers a geographically diverse array of ambitious and insightful theoretical, conceptual, and practical discussions of how social work can perpetuate the afterlives of colonialism and of how this can be reversed. In so doing, this book not only provides in-depth, empirically grounded critiques of - and antidotes to - various policies for managing people at the margins of society, it also makes a compelling case for always keeping the complexity of colonial continuity in conversation with neoliberal systems of governance. As these chapters show, it is only by keeping the full complexity of such confluences in mind that social inequality and institutional racism can be understood and that possibilities for change can emerge.
For its fundamental contributions to the literature on postcolonial social work, this is essential reading for social work researchers and postgraduates; and for its plainspoken tone and practical recommendations, it is a go-to source for social work practitioners eager to align their own everyday work with the demands of global justice.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Bloomsbury Open Collections Library Collective.
While it is well established that neoliberal systems of population management are designed to target the "constructed other," there is considerably less research examining how social work in particular interacts with the vestiges of colonialism to further this practice. Gathering social work scholars and practitioners from around the world, this collection offers a geographically diverse array of ambitious and insightful theoretical, conceptual, and practical discussions of how social work can perpetuate the afterlives of colonialism and of how this can be reversed. In so doing, this book not only provides in-depth, empirically grounded critiques of - and antidotes to - various policies for managing people at the margins of society, it also makes a compelling case for always keeping the complexity of colonial continuity in conversation with neoliberal systems of governance. As these chapters show, it is only by keeping the full complexity of such confluences in mind that social inequality and institutional racism can be understood and that possibilities for change can emerge.
For its fundamental contributions to the literature on postcolonial social work, this is essential reading for social work researchers and postgraduates; and for its plainspoken tone and practical recommendations, it is a go-to source for social work practitioners eager to align their own everyday work with the demands of global justice.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Bloomsbury Open Collections Library Collective.
Reviews / Votes
Decolonizing the curriculum can become just a slogan but in this collection it is given life through a wide array of contributions from and for a radical transformative social work practice from a global perspective. Obligatory reading for professional social workers and social work activists alike. * Professor Ronaldo Munck, Dublin City University, Ireland *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
368 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-36647-3 (9781350366473)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Tanja Kleibl is Professor for Social Work, Migration and Diversity at Technical University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany. She is also the author of Decolonizing Civil Society in Mozambique (Zed Books, 2021).
Robel Afeworki Abay is sociologist and guest professor of participatory approaches in social and health sciences at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Germany.
Anna-Lisa Klages is a Research Associate and PhD fellow at BayWISS Academic Forum 'Social Change' in affiliation with LMU Munich, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany.
Sara Rodriguez Lugo is a student assistant, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany.
Robel Afeworki Abay is sociologist and guest professor of participatory approaches in social and health sciences at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin, Germany.
Anna-Lisa Klages is a Research Associate and PhD fellow at BayWISS Academic Forum 'Social Change' in affiliation with LMU Munich, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany.
Sara Rodriguez Lugo is a student assistant, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wuerzburg-Schweinfurt, Germany.
Content
Introduction: The Relevance of Decolonising Social Work: Critical Reflections on Colonial Pasts, Post-Colonial Presents and Decolonial Futures
Section 1: Theoretical and Conceptual Discussions
Chapter 1: Epistemic Violence and Epistemic and Civil Disobedience in Social Work - Mechtild Exo, University of Emden/Leer, Germany
Chapter 2: 'Indigenous Knowledge' is Pejorative After All!: A Blind Spot in Social Work? - Jacques Zan-nou, Friedrich-Alexander University, Germany
Chapter 3: What Can We Learn by Considering the Historical and Ongoing Relationships Between Colonial Violence and Racialized Capitalism? - Franziska Baumbach, Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences, Germany
Chapter 4: Anthropocene and Posthumanism: A Challenge for Internationalized Social Work - Ronald Lutz, Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 5: Multiplicity of Story Telling - Cynthia Tobierre, Kimberley Caruth, Lara Bloom & Lake Gledhill
Chapter 6: Childhood and Adolescence Beyond Euro-centric Perspectives - Isabelle Ihring, Protestant University of Applied Science Ludwigsburg, Germany
Chapter 7: Epistemological Decolonisation: Transcending Epistemic Violence and Foregrounding Local Knowledges in Social Work - Linda Harms-Smith, University of Pretoria, South Africa, & Robel Afeworki Abay, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Chapter 8: Understanding Epistemic Violence: Possibilities for Decolonisation in German Academia - Anastasia Paschalidou & Chaitali Das, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Section 2: Social Work as a Transformative Discipline and Practice
Chapter 9: Academic Activism for Social Work: A Model for Emotional Reparation - Zoe Thomas, University of Bradford, UK
Chapter 10: Social Work and Its (Post)Colonial Heritage: A Historical Research Lab - Dayana Lau, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin, Germany
Chapter 11: Indigenous Commons and Ecological Justice in Social Work - Jason Leung, Benguet State University, Philippines, and Melinda Madew, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg, Germany
Chapter 12: Decolonisation and Ecological Justice in Social Work - Chaitali Das & Yari Or, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 13: Evidencing the Erasure: The Subaltern as a Writing Problem for Social Work. A Reading from the Peasant Women from Antioquia and Cundinamarca, Colombia - Ariel Camilo Gonzalez Moreno & Laura Daniela Toncon Chaparro, Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Colombia
Chapter 14: Transformative Practice and Social Work: Lessons from the Global Justice Movements - Christian Schroeder, Saarland University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 15: Decolonising Social Work in the Post-Conflict-Ridden Democratic Republic of Congo through a Culturalist and Praxeological Approach - Murhula G. Kapalata, Mutama N. Kabesha, Kaganda P.Mulumeoderhwa, Agino C. Foussiakda & Balegamire J. Bazilashe, Universite Evangelique UEA-Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Chapter 16: Decolonising Social Work from the Environmental Dimension - Claudia Usaquen Lanche-ros, Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Colombia, Ana Patricia Quintana Ramirez, National University of Colombia and Nelida Ramirez Naranjo, Catholic University of Maule, Chile
Section 1: Theoretical and Conceptual Discussions
Chapter 1: Epistemic Violence and Epistemic and Civil Disobedience in Social Work - Mechtild Exo, University of Emden/Leer, Germany
Chapter 2: 'Indigenous Knowledge' is Pejorative After All!: A Blind Spot in Social Work? - Jacques Zan-nou, Friedrich-Alexander University, Germany
Chapter 3: What Can We Learn by Considering the Historical and Ongoing Relationships Between Colonial Violence and Racialized Capitalism? - Franziska Baumbach, Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences, Germany
Chapter 4: Anthropocene and Posthumanism: A Challenge for Internationalized Social Work - Ronald Lutz, Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 5: Multiplicity of Story Telling - Cynthia Tobierre, Kimberley Caruth, Lara Bloom & Lake Gledhill
Chapter 6: Childhood and Adolescence Beyond Euro-centric Perspectives - Isabelle Ihring, Protestant University of Applied Science Ludwigsburg, Germany
Chapter 7: Epistemological Decolonisation: Transcending Epistemic Violence and Foregrounding Local Knowledges in Social Work - Linda Harms-Smith, University of Pretoria, South Africa, & Robel Afeworki Abay, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Chapter 8: Understanding Epistemic Violence: Possibilities for Decolonisation in German Academia - Anastasia Paschalidou & Chaitali Das, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Section 2: Social Work as a Transformative Discipline and Practice
Chapter 9: Academic Activism for Social Work: A Model for Emotional Reparation - Zoe Thomas, University of Bradford, UK
Chapter 10: Social Work and Its (Post)Colonial Heritage: A Historical Research Lab - Dayana Lau, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin, Germany
Chapter 11: Indigenous Commons and Ecological Justice in Social Work - Jason Leung, Benguet State University, Philippines, and Melinda Madew, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg, Germany
Chapter 12: Decolonisation and Ecological Justice in Social Work - Chaitali Das & Yari Or, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 13: Evidencing the Erasure: The Subaltern as a Writing Problem for Social Work. A Reading from the Peasant Women from Antioquia and Cundinamarca, Colombia - Ariel Camilo Gonzalez Moreno & Laura Daniela Toncon Chaparro, Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Colombia
Chapter 14: Transformative Practice and Social Work: Lessons from the Global Justice Movements - Christian Schroeder, Saarland University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Chapter 15: Decolonising Social Work in the Post-Conflict-Ridden Democratic Republic of Congo through a Culturalist and Praxeological Approach - Murhula G. Kapalata, Mutama N. Kabesha, Kaganda P.Mulumeoderhwa, Agino C. Foussiakda & Balegamire J. Bazilashe, Universite Evangelique UEA-Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Chapter 16: Decolonising Social Work from the Environmental Dimension - Claudia Usaquen Lanche-ros, Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Colombia, Ana Patricia Quintana Ramirez, National University of Colombia and Nelida Ramirez Naranjo, Catholic University of Maule, Chile