(Re-)Imagining Social Work in the Anthropocene

Bibliographic Data

ID10898523
AuthorsChris Victor Panagiotaros (0000-0001-5717-9302, Western Sydney University, corresponding author), Jennifer Boddy (0000-0003-0338-4460, Western Sydney University), Tonia Gray (0000-0002-5358-1748, Western Sydney University), Jim Ife (0000-0002-9896-1672, Western Sydney University)
Year2022
Volume52
Issue8
Pages4778-4794
Publication date2022-12-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjsw/bcac075
OpenAlexW4225829066
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited40

The ecological crisis, marked by the Anthropocene epoch, is having a major impact on the global ecosystem, and the consequences are predicted to become increasingly severe in coming decades. The turbulence and uncertainty of the crisis means social work must begin planning, reflecting and reorientating. The first half of the article contextualises the climate crisis within neoliberal capitalism, whereas the second half proposes alternatives for social work practice that attempt to exist outside these structures. We have argued that social work should have a greater focus on developing an eco-social transition which means engaging with alternative economic systems, intentional communities, community gardens and localism. These approaches can practically espouse the profession’s values whilst beginning to conceptualise a response to the climate crisis that operates outside neoliberal capitalism

Anthropocene · Capitalism · Ecological crisis · Environmental ethics · Localism · Neoliberalism (international relations) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics) · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Social Work Education and Practice · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability

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Open DOIOpen Access