Practices of resistance in social work

Navigating power in a local social work programme in Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID6421055
AuthorsLaura Einhorn (TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2025
Pages1-18
Publication date2025-08-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical and Radical Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2049-8675 • E-ISSN: 2049-8608
PublisherBristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/20498608y2025d000000090
OpenAlexW4413308136
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

Social work is rife with contradictions and an instrument of both help and control. Despite this, many social workers are driven by a resolve to advocate for individuals and communities and to challenge practices and policies that perpetuate inequality and oppression. The concept of resistance in social work, while offering a lens to view the field’s innate conflict between power and counter-power, remains largely unexplored. In this article, I explore the notion of resistant practices, applying it to insights from qualitative research conducted in an urban area in Germany. The social workers interviewed were employed in a local social policy programme supposed to mitigate ‘social problems’ by fostering networks and ‘activating’ local resources. I briefly delineate the inherent contradictions of the programme before revealing an array of resistant practices, both small- and large-scale, overt and covert. The findings are summarised, and implications for further research are discussed

Economic growth · Economics · Physics · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Resistance (ecology · Social power · Sociology · Work (physics · Engineering · Homelessness and Social Issues · Social Work Education and Practice · Sociology and Education Studies · Social Work · Mechanical Engineering

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Open DOIOpen Access