Rethinking Democracy in Social Work

This book theorises how social work, as a theoretical and practical discipline, could be brought into a critical dialogue with the concept of democracy. The issue is particularly acute since anti-democratic forces are now democratically elected in several European nations, implying that social work institutions are increasingly steeped according to neoliberal and anti-democratic logic. The book elaborates on a response to this trend by showing how social work can avoid the traps of contemporary discourse by which democracy is to be protected with repressive means. In elaborating on democracy as inextricably related to justice, emancipation and equality, this book explores democracy as a liberating force much closer to the spirit and tradition of critical and radical social work. By endorsing a view of democracy as contradictory, paradoxical, and based on dissensus, this book frames social work as a democratic force in the struggle for justice and equality.