Social justice, first? The policy action of South European social workers’ professional organisations in the shadow of austerity

ABSTRACT

Political responsibility is firmly rooted in social professions, but comparative studies showed that the policy engagement of social workers tends to be low. It appears that something might have changed in the critical juncture Southern Europe has been experiencing in the last 10 years. Economic recession and austerity politics have had particularly significant effects on social and human rights, leading social workers to radical and dramatic responsibilities to act for social justice, thus providing a research test case. The evolutions of social workers’ policy practice in the shadow of austerity are addressed in three steps. First, the importance and pitfalls of collective policy practice and the role of social workers’ professional organisations (SWPOs) are discussed. Second, various hypotheses about the evolution of policy practice under the pressures of recession and austerity are outlined. Third, the situated action of SWPOs in Italy and Spain in such times is analysed. Results develop the debate on social workers’ policy practice and contributes to (a) better defining the relevance of SWPOs for individual policy practice; and (b) identifying different, but intertwined, approaches of SWPOs policy action in Southern Europe, i.e. ‘social justice, first’ and ‘profession, first’.

ASTRATTO

Sebbene l’ethos politico del lavoro sociale professionale sia chiaro e riconosciuto, l’impegno delle/dei social worker nelle cosiddette ‘policy practice’ è stato basso fino ai primi anni del 2000. Qualcosa è cambiato in Europa negli anni dell’austerità? Specialmente nei paesi mediterranei, recessione ed austerità hanno avuto un impatto così pesante sui diritti umani e sociali che la responsabilità politica delle/dei social worker è stata messa alla prova in modo radicale e drammatico. L’articolo affronta le evoluzioni della ‘policy practice’ collettiva dei social worker negli anni dell’austerità in tre mosse. Innanzitutto, a partire dalla proposta di Gal e Weiss-Gal, viene presentata criticamente l’importanza della ‘policy practice’ collettiva ed introdotto il ruolo giocato dalle organizzazioni professionali del lavoro sociale (SWPOs). In secondo luogo, principalmente sulla base della letteratura sui movimenti sociali, sono delineate diverse ipotesi sulle evoluzioni della ‘policy practice’ sotto la pressione della recessione e dell’austerità. In terzo luogo, viene analizzata l’azione delle principali SWPOs in Italia e in Spagna in tempi di crisi. Nel complesso, l’articolo consente di identificare diversi percorsi dell’azione politica delle SWPOs (‘prima la giustizia’, ‘prima la professione’) e di definire meglio la funzione delle SWPOs per la ‘policy practice’ dei social worker.

KEYWORDS:

• Social justice
• policy practice
• social workers’ professional organisations
• austerity
• Southern Europe

PAROLE CHIAVE:

• Giustizia sociale
• policy practice
• organizzazioni professionali del lavoro sociale
• austerità
• Sud Europa

Acknowledgements

The article has been prepared within the frame of the University of Pisa – PRA Project 2017_56 ‘Le reti della conoscenza nella società globale’ and the Visiting Fellowship at the Departamento de Trabajo Social y Servicios Sociales of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, which I thank. I also thank John Gal and two anonymous referees of the Journal for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Riccardo Guidi, PhD, is Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Pisa where he teaches ‘Social Services Organization’ and ‘Sociology of Third Sector’. He is also guest lecturer (profesor invitado) in the Master Trabajo Social Comunitario, Gestión y Evaluación de Servicios Sociales of the Complutense University of Madrid. His main research topics are about social workers’ policy practice, public-private welfare partnerships, volunteering and social participation. He is co-convenor of the Special Interest Group ‘Research on Social Work and Policy Engagement’ of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA).

Notes

1 CNOAS was established in 1993.

2 The Association was established at the national level by various professionals in 1994, and was aimed at contributing to the development of Spanish social services. It is composed of over 200 professionals (social workers, psychologists, sociologists, educators, etc.) with public responsibilities, and defines itself as a ‘professional forum of social services’ (www.directoressociales.com/quienes-somos.html), ‘not a corporative organization but a defender of social services public systems’ (Interview 8).