Alice Salomon: critical social work pioneer

ABSTRACT

Early pioneers of critical social work have not always been recognised as such. This paper examines the theory and practice of early German social work researcher, activist, social work author and educator, Alice Salomon (1872–1948) with reference to Fook’s understanding of critical social work. Salomon’s work is characterised by her orientation on social justice, her internationalism, her concern with the structural inequalities that shape clients’ lives, her sensitivity to oppression in society, and her commitment to feminist social work. Acknowledging that Salomon’s theory is still underappreciated in her home country, this paper, published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of her birth, uses her own words and ideas, many translated into English for the first time, to present the case for regarding her as an early pioneer of critical social work. We argue that her approach to social work practice, in which the practitioner is constantly mindful of their own potential biases, of questions of gender, ethnicity and poverty, and of the grave inequalities and injustices facing the client, anticipates modern anti-oppressive, feminist and critical social work.

ABSTRAKTE

Pioniere kritischer Sozialarbeit wurden bisher als solche nicht immer (an-)erkannt. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Theorie und Praxis einer deutschen Wissenschaftlerin der Sozialen Arbeit, einer Aktivistin, Autorin und Lehrenden, Alice Salomon (1872-1948), und zwar unter Bezugnahme auf Jan Fooks Theorie kritischer Sozialer Arbeit. In der Berücksichtigung, dass Salomons Theorie in ihrem Heimatland noch immer unterschätzt wird, möchte dieser Artikel anlässlich ihres 150. Geburtstages ihre Worte und Ideen vorstellen, von denen viele hier erstmals ins Englische übersetzt wurden. Wir behaupten, dass ihr Ansatz Sozialer Arbeit, der an sozialer Gerechtigkeit und Internationalismus orientiert ist, moderne anti-oppressive, feministische und kritische Soziale Arbeit antizipiert hat. Denn sie hat nicht nur Fachkräfte aufgefordert, sich immer wieder auf ihre mögliche Voreingenommenheit hin zu reflektieren, sondern hat auch Fragen von Geschlecht, Ethnizität reflektiert sowie die damit zusammenhängenden gravierenden Ungleichheiten und Ungerechtigkeiten kritisiert, von denen Klient:innen betroffen sind.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminist social work
• gender
• Germany
• critical social work
• Alice Salomon

SCHLÜSSELWÖRTER:

• feministische Soziale Arbeit
• Gender
• Deutschland
• kritische Soziale Arbeit
• Alice Salomon

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carola Kuhlmann

Prof. Dr. Carola Kuhlmann is Professor of Education Science at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, Department of Social Work. She is a member of the German Association of Social Work (DGSA), the German Educational Research Association (GERA), the Board of the Alice Salomon Archive and the Phd. Cooperation Centre North Rhine-Westphalia. She did her postdoctoral thesis on the social work theory of Alice Salomon. She has published around 80 scholarly papers and 10 books: on the history of social work considering the dimensions of different fields of practice and theories, social exclusion and residential care. She is the author of a textbook on the history of social work published in several editions.

Magnus Frampton

Magnus Frampton Dipl. Soz.-päd./Soz.-arb., MA teaches social work and social pedagogy at the University of Vechta, Germany, focussing on comparative social work and internationalisation in both social work and social work education. His work experience is in homelessness services, disabled people’s services and in mental health. He is also a specialist translator, being interested in the semantic and terminological aspects of social work. His publications include European and International Social Work (Beltz/Juventa, 2019) and Fachenglisch für die Soziale Arbeit, 2nd ed. (Beltz/Juventa, 2017).

Jonathan Parker

Prof. Dr. Jonathan Parker is Professor of Society & Social Welfare at Bournemouth University, and Visiting Professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Doctoral programme team member at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan. He was one of the founders and director of the Family Assessment and Support Unit, a placement agency attached to the University of Hull. He was Chair of the Association of Teachers in Social Work Education until 2005, Vice Chair of the UK higher education representative body, the Joint University Council for Social Work Education from 2005 to 2010, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He has published widely (over 100 scholarly papers and over 35 books): on disadvantage, marginalisation and violence, Southeast Asia, social work and welfare education internationally. He is author of the best-selling book Social Work Practice (Sage, 2021) and series editor for the highly successful Transforming Social Work Practice series (Sage).