scholarly journals Environmental Justice in the Case of the Chagos Marine Protected Area: Implications for International Social Work

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8349
Author(s):  
Komalsingh Rambaree
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
International Social

Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, the British government forcibly removed about 15,000 Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago. Current legislation based on the declaration of the Chagos-Marine Protected Area (MPA) plays a crucial role in preventing the Chagossians from returning to their homeland. In this particular case study, the article aims to analyze discourses related to the establishment of the Chagos-MPA using an environmental justice framework, to consider the implications for international social work practice. Materials from court rulings, official government reports, and academic/journalist publications on the MPA, as well as from seven semi-structured interviews with key informants from three Chagossian communities based in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom were analyzed using ATLAS-ti 8.4 software. The main findings of the deductive critical discourse analysis are discussed concerning substantive, distributive, and procedural environmental justice for the Chagossian community (This term is used for referring different Chagossian communities from Mauritius, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom as a single homogenous group). This article calls for international social work interventions through transnational alliances between international organizations in challenging the socio-political forces that are having deleterious impacts upon the marginalized and disenfranchised populations and their biophysical environment.

scholarly journals Worlds apart! Environmental injustices in Mauritius, Peru and Sweden

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087281988939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komalsingh Rambaree ◽  
Maria Båld ◽  
Brita Backlund Rambaree
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Work Interventions ◽  
International Social

During the last few years, there has been a growing concern for environmental justice within international social work. This article connects to such concerns and aims to present and discuss environmental injustices faced by local communities in Mauritius, Peru and Sweden. Primary data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with a total of 25 key representatives of local communities in the three countries. Secondary materials were combined with the primary data in ATLAS-ti v.8.3 for a deductive critical discourse analysis. The findings describe the substantive, distributive and procedural environmental injustices faced by local communities in the three case studies. The article then considers the implications of the findings for international social work interventions in promoting environmental justice. The article concludes on the need for international social workers to continue their efforts and practices towards achieving environmental justice for all, in promoting global sustainable development.

scholarly journals Australian students going to the Pacific Islands: International social work placements and learning across Oceania

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 56-69
Author(s):  
Jioji Ravulo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Field Practice ◽  
Student Motivations ◽  
International Social

INTRODUCTION: This paper explores various issues pertinent to international social work practice, including its definition, how Western epistemologies affect international placements, barriers to effective placements and student motivations for undertaking practicum away from home. METHOD: Reviewed literature will be coupled with Australian student-participants’ evaluations of their experience in completing social work placements in Fiji and Samoa.  FINDINGS: A new model of approaching Pacific social work across Oceania emerges from the study. Entitled Tanoa Ni Veiqaravi(Serving Bowl of Serving Others), this culturally nuanced framework integrates both Western and Pacific social work perspectives to support professional practice, policy development and research across the region.CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations for the improvement of international field practice are offered. 

scholarly journals Challenges of International Social Work Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learnt from A Bilateral Collaborative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Masateru Higashida ◽  
Amarawansa Ranaweera
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
International Studies ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
International Social

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a profound impact on people’s lives around the world, has also affected international social work practice and research on social issues. This article explores how international social work research can draw lessons from bilateral research collaborations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, an international collaborative research project was commenced to examine the practical experiences of social workers in Sri Lanka, with the overall purpose of contributing to development of socio-culturally relevant social work training. Trial semi-structured interviews were conducted using remote tools with five social workers in government or private organisations. The narratives of the interviewees were qualitatively analysed to identify their personal backgrounds of social work education and practice, their experiences of working during the pandemic and their perspectives and values as social workers. Lessons learnt were discussed focussing on the objectives and perspectives of the study, the preliminary arrangements for the research, the methods and considerations. In a context where it is important for social work researchers to promote international studies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper provides an example of a feasible international cooperative study.

International Aid, Relief, and Humanitarian Assistance

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Monico ◽  
Karen Smith Rotabi ◽  
Taghreed Abu Sarhan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
International Development ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
International Social Work ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
International Social

International development, humanitarian aid, and relief are at the heart of international social work practice. They have evolved historically and globally; shaped by world markets, social and environmental forces, including natural disasters. Considering this context, the authors cluster relevant social-work theories and practices as (a) human rights perspectives, and (b) ecological, feminist, and cultural theories. They discuss both micro and macro practice, with an emphasis on the latter. Case studies are presented with the overlay of relevant international conventions, guidance, and international private law. A continuum of humanitarian assistance is presented considering different countries. Guatemala is a prominent example in addition to Haiti’s massive earthquake of 2010 with recent revelations of sexual abuse and exploitation by humanitarian aid workers, post-conflict community-based practices in Afghanistan, and the largest cross-border forced migration in modern history of Iraqi, and Syrian refugees with this second group being of particular concern given their mass displacement. Capacity building as related to social work training is emphasized. This entry concludes that much remains to be accomplished with regard to capacity building among humanitarian assistance organizations so that the principles and practice strategies of international social work are institutionalized.

scholarly journals PREVENT, safeguarding and the common-sensing of social work in the United Kingdom

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-28
Author(s):  
David McKendrick ◽  
Jo Finch
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Uk

INTRODUCTION: The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015) passed in the United Kingdom (UK) made it mandatory for social workers, as well as a wide range of caring professionals, to work within the PREVENT policy, originally introduced in 2002, as one strand of the UK’s overall counter-terrorism policy.METHOD: The paper offers a theoretical account of how complex issues, like terrorism, that understandably impact on the safety and security of countries, are reduced to a series of assertions, claims and panics that centre on the notion of common sense.IMPLICATIONS: We theorise the concept of common sense and argue that such rhetorical devices have become part of the narrative that surrounds the PREVENT agenda in the UK, which co-opts social workers (and other public servants) into an increasingly securitised environment within the state. In other words, the appeal to common sense stifles critical debate, makes it hard to raise concerns and positions debates in a binary manner. We use the example of how there has been a decisive linking of traditional safeguarding social work practice with counter-terrorism activity.CONCLUSIONS: We posit that linkages such as this serve to advance a more closed society, resulting in a “chilling” of free speech, an increase in surveillance and the unchecked advancement of a neoliberal political agenda which promotes economic considerations over issues of social justice. This we argue, has implications for not only the UK, but for other countries where social workers are increasingly being tasked with counter-terrorism activities.

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