Call for conference papers: Everyday Dissonances, Hope and Social Work in the Context of Local and Global Challenges

Social work is positioned at the crossroads of what is say-able and unsayable, topics others like to avoid, and an increasingly difficult and politicised struggle to retain rights and defend the care of individuals, communities and our planet. Though practiced at the level of the local and the everyday, social work faces similar challenges around the globe (including in Aotearoa), where right wing agendas undermine rights to reproductive choice, transgender equity, and inclusive public and post-secondary education, and place liberatory frameworks for service delivery in ongoing threat. Though globally and locally the challenges may seem bleak, social workers in many locations and services are advancing concepts and causes such as: Indigenous rights, radical hope; critical, intersectional and anti-oppressive theories; and anti-carceral, social justice-based practice.     

This stream calls for papers that explore any aspect of the dissonances, challenges and promising practices in social work and social policy, as well as analyses that advance hopeful responses and visions for social equity and social justice at the level of the individual, family, community, region, country or planet. We especially welcome papers from Indigenous and/or postgraduate researchers. 

CALL FOR PAPERS

Please submit your abstracts (200-word max) by August 21, 2023. Confirmations will be sent out in early September 2023.  Submit here: 

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7388373/SAANZ-2023-Social-Work-Stream-Call-for-Papers

Paper presentations will be 15 minutes each, with 5 minutes for questions. This conference will be entirely in-person, and all participants whose papers are accepted must register for the conference by 1 November 2023 at the latest. Presenters who register after this date will be included in the conference programme at the discretion of the conference convenors.

Any queries can be directed to Liz Beddoe: l.beddoe@auckland.ac.nz or Donna Baines: dbaines@mail.ubc.ca 

This our 4th critical social work stream at this conference, this year convened by Liz Beddoe, Eileen Joy and Donna Baines. Depending on the quality of the papers, we hope to publish a Special Issue in a social work journal. More details to follow.