Advancing Transformative Eco-social Change: Shifting from Modernist to Holistic Foundations

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a reconciliatory, integrative, and transformative way forward for addressing philosophical incongruities between the emerging foundations of eco-social work and inherent modernist assumptions underpinning conventional social work practice. Although modernity has enabled the profession to pursue certain freedoms, such as individual empowerment and self-determination, a modernist worldview is today critiqued for philosophical assumptions associated with the unsustainable use of Earth’s natural resources. By advancing transformative eco-social change, opportunities to broaden the profession’s conventional philosophical base to include holism and interdependence with the natural world will be explored. Implications centre on the need to incorporate perspective transformation and critical reflexivity, and to revise the framing of fundamental documents, such as codes of ethics, practice standards, and education requirements. By integrating transformative eco-social change, social work can improve the capacity to develop a coherent and ethical response to ecological and social problems.

IMPLICATIONS

• Philosophical incongruities between inherent modernist assumptions underpinning conventional social work practice and the emerging foundations of eco-social work represent a major dilemma for the profession.

• Transformative eco-social change, involving the integration of philosophical principles emphasising holism and interdependence with the natural world is critical for developing a coherent and ethical approach to addressing ecological and social problems.

• Transformative change to broaden social work’s conventional philosophical base in education and practice contexts can include the integration of perspective transformation, critical reflexivity, and the revision of professional policy documents.

生态社工的新兴的理论基础与传统社工实践背后的现代主义假设之间存在深刻的差异，本文提出了弥缝、整合及转化之道。现代性使社工行业获得了一定的自由，如个体的增能赋力，但现代主义的世界观因其不可持续地使用地球的自然资源如今受到批评。我们提倡转化性的生态社会变迁，就是要寻找机会扩充社工行业的既有哲学基础以容纳整体的观念、与自然世界的相互依存。关键是需要整合观点的转变和自我的反思，需要修改基本文献的的框架如伦理规范、实践标准、教育要求。通过吸收转变性生态社会变迁，社会工作就更能对生态、社会问题作出理论自洽、合乎伦理的反应。

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental Social Work
• Social Work Education
• Social Work Practice

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.