The neoliberal turn in Chilean social work: frontline struggles against individualism and fragmentation

ABSTRACT

In Chile, the right-wing dictatorship (1973–1990) implemented the first neoliberal ‘experiment’ in the world, affecting the development of social work in a traumatic way. More than 40 years after the coup, the inheritance from the dictatorship appears to still be blocking discussion and implementation of critical perspectives in social work. The inception of the Social Protection System in 2000 has contributed to reinforcing depoliticised and individually oriented approaches of social workers’ interventions. However, practices of resistance to this apparent hegemonic order can also be detected and identified within social work. Drawing upon preliminary findings of an exploratory-sequential study, this article analyses the way in which neoliberal ideology has impacted contemporary Chilean social work and illuminates strategies employed by many in the profession to defy such constraining rationality.

RESUMEN

Durante la dictadura cívico-militar que tuvo lugar en Chile entre 1973 y 1990 se implementó el primer ‘experimento’ neoliberal en el mundo, el cual afectó de manera traumática el desarrollo del trabajo social. Más de 40 años después del Golpe de Estado, las herencias de la dictadura aun interfieren en la discusión e implementación de perspectivas críticas en trabajo social. Esto se refleja, por ejemplo, en los enfoques de intervención individualistas y despolitizados que ejecutan trabajadoras/es sociales en el marco del Sistema de Protección Social que comenzó a implementarse a partir del 2000. A pesar de ello, es posible detectar ciertos actos de resistencia que los/as trabajadores/as sociales ejercen frente a esta racionalidad hegemónica. Basándose en los resultados preliminares de un estudio exploratorio-secuencial sobre prácticas interprofesionales, este artículo analiza las maneras en las cuales el ethos neoliberal ha impactado al trabajo social chileno en el contexto contemporáneo e identifica estrategias empleadas por los/as trabajadores/as sociales para desafiar dicha racionalidad.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work
• neoliberalism
• resistance
• social protection
• Chile

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• trabajo social
• neoliberalismo
• resistencia
• protección social
• Chile

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Gianinna Muñoz Arce is an academic at the Department of Social Work at the University of Chile. Her research interests are social work theories and methods, critical approaches of social intervention and interprofessional practices. Her recent publications include: Muñoz Arce, G. & Pantazis, C. (2018) ‘Social exclusion, neoliberalism and resistance: The role of social workers in implementing social policies in Chile’, Critical Social Policy, DOI: 10.1177/0261018318766509. Muñoz Arce, G. (2016). ‘Critical social work and the promotion of citizenship in Chile’, International Social Work, DOI: 10.1177/0020872816664965. She currently holds a Chilean National Commission for Science and Technology grant (Fondecyt Iniciación No 11160538) for her research project ‘Interprofessional practices in integrated social services in Chile: a contribution to public engagement’.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research of the Chilean Government – CONICYT, Fondecyt Iniciación No.11160538.