Social work in the 21st century is positioned in a landscape shaped by deep ecological and geo-political politics characterised by ongoing conflicts over colonialism, nationalism, identity, and democracy. Economic shifts are widening the gap between rich and poor. AI is developing faster than governments can regulate it, and social media companies hold enormous influence. These events are coupled with the rise in attacks on women, young girls, diversity, the politics of inclusion and equity initiatives making life more unstable and unpredictable for individuals, families, and communities. These events and challenges provoke serious questions about social work’s ability to respond or indeed its willingness to step into these fraught areas at all. How can a diverse, multi-cultural, multi linguistic global profession keep up with these fast-changing challenges? Are old ways of working and being no longer fit for purpose?
More laterally social work has aligned itself with the progressive critique focusing on social justice, human rights and compassion for the human condition. However, the present moment exposes the limits of these inherited frameworks as many argue that institutional social work has become too silent or neutral in the face of these crises. The profession needs new ways to respond. As these challenges grow, social work must rethink not only how it responds, but what kinds of responses are possible—locally, nationally, and globally.
This latest edition of Social Dialogue takes up some of these pressing challenges. In responding to our call for new ways of addressing current social and political crises, we received an overwhelming number of submissions. The response was so substantial that we have produced two volumes, each offering fresh perspectives on how social work might take up the struggles shaping its future—or at the very least, provide a snapshot of current efforts that remind us how social work can flourish and continue to generate creative pathways forward.
Across these two volumes, we feature articles from 64 contributors representing Malta, India, the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Nigeria, Australia, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Chile, Uruguay, Spain, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Bangladesh, Japan, Latvia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Germany, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Senegal, and Hong Kong/China. We thank each of them for their generous and thoughtful contributions.
Social work is uniquely well placed to respond to global issues, as it is one of the few professions whose mandate explicitly requires practitioners to confront injustice beyond national borders. The vast global network of social workers represented in these volumes demonstrates a shared commitment to forging new pathways for addressing power, inequality, and injustice in ways that enhance the wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities. Enjoy.