The changing face of community work: from radicalism to networking. A European perspective

ABSTRACT

Applied theories in social work are social constructs that evolve according to cultural, political and social trends. The history of community work in Europe after the Second World War provides an example of a family of practices that is constantly evolving, in terms of its integration into social work, its methods, and the political project that underpins it. While the development of broad-based and conscientising approaches were challenged by neo-liberalism from the 1980s on, community work practice is currently undergoing a revival based on community building and person-centred methods, under the influence of the new public management. This paper is based on a doctoral research conducted in six European countries, examining the relationship between social work and community work, and the various forms of community work across Europe.

KEYWORDS:

• Community work
• Europe
• brokerage
• neoliberalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Snowball sampling starts with one entry point into a network, and relies on referrals to identify other cases. For instance, we began by interviewing one academic from a partner university in each country, and asked for recommendations to interview fellow academics or field practitioners in their networks. Academics were especially resourceful to identify a diversity of practitioners and organisations, while practitioners tended to refer us to professionals who were involved in the same field (for instance: youth work).

2. Community social work in the Czech Republic has been spared this ideological discredit; from the late 1990s on, community development projects in social work have been implemented with a view to promoting socially excluded groups (such as the Roma people), using methodologies imported from the English-speaking world and the Netherlands.

3. https://www.welfareresponsabile.it/welfare-comunitario/accessed Nov 20, 2019, our translation. This network is mostly composed of academics.

4. https://www.vilans.nl/docs/producten/Sociaal%20Makelen.pdf, accessed January 19, 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laure H. Lienard

Laure H. Lienard is a licensed social worker and a doctor in sociology. She is a social work and sociology lecturer at Lille Catholic University (Institut Social de Lille), France. Her research focuses on community work, participatory practice, international social work, and homelessness.