Social Work Intellectuals in the Twenty‐First Century: Critical Social Theory, Critical Social Work and Public Engagement

Abstract

In this age of neo‐liberalism, characterized by a shrinking welfare state with policies that reinforce individualist values over commitment to the collective, there is an increasing need for social work academics to promote social justice goals through public discourse. At the same time, institutional pressures to ‘publish or perish’ are keeping many academics from engaging in the public sphere. How are social work academics dealing with conflicting values of social work as a unique discipline with social justice aims, and an institutional culture that rewards individual pursuits over public engagement? How can critical social theories help social work intellectuals justify public engagement as an integral part of their academic work? What can the ‘profession’ do to promote and support greater public engagement so that social workers working on the front lines, confined from speaking out for fear of reprisal, feel that they are part of a unified voice fighting for social and economic justice?

Keywords:

• Social Work Intellectuals
• Public Engagement
• Intellectual Engagement
• Academic Activism
• Social Work Public Discourse

Notes

1. Intellectual historian David Schalk (1991) defines intellectuals in broad terms. He includes in his definition some journalists and artists in addition to academics. He notes that intellectuals are ‘defined by their more abstract and distantiated social role which sharply contrasts them with almost all others in a modern society’ (p. 39). Sandy Vogelsang (as cited in Schalk, 1991, p. 39) defines intellectuals as the ‘men and women of ideas who explore and challenge the underlying values of society … [they] prescribe what ought to be’.

2. The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) reports increasing reliance on private funding, shrinking expenditures on salaries, increased use of contract academic staff and decreases in tenured faculty, and increasing student/teacher ratios as examples of the challenges facing universities across Canada. Reports are available at http://www.caut.ca.

3. In the context of an increasingly globalized world organized around neo‐liberal economic structures, Canada is experiencing similar trends in terms of growing inequality and attacks on the welfare state. It should be noted that this author was unable to find literature on public engagement of social work intellectuals in Canada. While the purpose this paper is not to quantify social work academic public engagement but rather to encourage reflection and debate, a quick scan of notable public intellectuals locally and across Canada reveals few social workers. A gender and racial analysis of social work intellectuals publicly engaged is also required.

4. Pocklington and Tupper (2002) note that teaching has fallen far down on the list of priorities of Canadian universities and it is now the research record that is of greatest concern. Further, the commercialization of universities has resulted in a new criterion for evaluating ‘excellence’—that being ‘entrepreneurship in the pursuit of research grants’ (Pocklington and Tupper, 2002, p. 151). This emphasis on entrepreneurship and the general trend toward an increase in part‐time and non‐tenure track faculty limits the ability to engage publicly. Fewer full‐time tenured positions mean greater institutional pressures for tenured faculty. And this leaves less time to be engaged in local matters of importance. For activist social workers, the public ‘absence’ of their academic colleagues, who in many cases were once their teachers and mentors, serves to fulfil stereotypes of the ‘ivory tower academic’.

5. While social work faculties are increasingly diverse, the changing demographics are relatively recent. While I have not examined the classifications of academics in social work faculties across Canada, and only limited statistics are available with regard to academia more generally, the CAUT reports Aboriginal Canadians are seriously under‐represented within the academic world, as are many other equity seeking groups. While this is changing slowly, we are likely to find that representation of these groups are found in lower ranking positions and therefore less likely, for reasons stated, to be publicly engaged. See http://www.caut.ca/en/publications/equityreview/EquityReview1‐en.pdf.

6. This statement comes from personal experience as a front‐line social worker and activist, and through conversations with others engaged at this level. To quantify such claims, further research is required to better understand how social workers perceive academics, professional associations and unions.

7. For example, at a workshop that I recently conducted during a training conference for members of the Alberta College of Social Workers, a small group spoke up about forming a social justice committee to increase the college's attention to social justice issues. But another social worker—visibly frustrated—questioned this approach stating that social justice should be a top priority for the college, not the work of a small committee, especially in a province with such significant and growing inequality. More recently a representative on the Manitoba Association of Social Workers (MASW) board defended the absence of the association on public issues of concern to social work stating that they have been unable to find individuals willing to speak out on issues when media calls for comment. This is a grave concern.