Human rights and critical social work: Competing epistemologies for practice

The paper argues that the idea of human rights remains a 'two-edged sword' for critical social work practice. On one hand, human rights implies a progressive stance for critical social workers. However, human rights can be used to maintain conservative perspectives on critical social work...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social alternatives 2016-01, Vol.35 (4), p.27-31
Main Authors: Jim Ife, Sonia Magdalena Tascon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Epistemology
Human rights
Liberalism
Neoliberalism
Practice
Professional ethics
Professional practice
Social epistemology
Social service
Social work
Social workers
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Summary:The paper argues that the idea of human rights remains a 'two-edged sword' for critical social work practice. On one hand, human rights implies a progressive stance for critical social workers. However, human rights can be used to maintain conservative perspectives on critical social work reinforcing the neoliberal status quo. The paper analyses literature critiquing human rights theory as a Western-centric development perspective concluding that critical social work practice can benefit from an understanding of human rights that seeks to challenge top-down approaches to human rights implementation.
ISSN:0155-0306
1836-6600