Anarchist Perspectives for Social Work: Disrupting Oppressive Systems

Social work and the crisis of representation are a common theme for practice and theory. During these volatile times-of pandemic, climate change, civil unrest, and the rise of right-wing fascist ideologies, we must confront the growing challenge of how social work can remain relevant. The fact is that social workers need to have hope in that their work matters, and that there are ways to do more than respond to individual suffering while the world burns. This book makes the radical claim that there are ways to reconcile ideas from anarchism with a kind of social work that seeks to unmake itself, to be part of the project to bring about a better world. The reader is invited to see the chapters of this work as a journey to explore what an anarchist social work theory could offer as various topics are used to illustrate new ways of thinking -both about social problems and of social work itself

Alexander W. Sawatsky has taught at Booth University College for the last 17 years in the Faculty of Social Work where he was the Director from 2017-2023. He has written and published on topics related to mental health policy, history and social work practice including from a Critical Theory and anarchist perspective, and served on multiple boards, including the Manitoba College of Social Workers, the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society (now Peer Connections) and more. Currently, he is serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Work at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.