International Social Work

Abstract

The chapter is a dialogical exercise in theoretical decolonising to deepen and extend social work episteme and action. Taking International Social Work as a site of analysis, I attempt to reflect on alternative ways of looking at the subject. Laced throughout the text is problematisation and destabilisation of established ideas and embedded meanings in International Social Work, subjecting its theory to a decolonial test. I begin the chapter by tracing the history of International Social Work, capturing in the process the perspectives emerging from Tribal and Aboriginal scholars. I then contextualise and draw out the epistemological issues concerning the Tribal gaze, from which I attempt a critical analysis of International Social Work. This is followed by an exercise in theoretical decolonising around six critiques of the said subject. I conclude the chapter by pointing out challenges to International Social Work theorising in contemporary times, and the way forward for educators and practitioners.

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