Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice

Building Transformative, Politicized Social Work

Donna Baines

Exploring how to translate anti-oppressive theory into everyday social work practice and how to “do” politicized, transformative social work, this book brings together ten authors with extensive backgrounds in social justice and front line practice. Drawing on practice vignettes, personal experiences and case work examples, the authors focus on social work practice in a variety of settings, including child welfare, mental health, addictions, clinical therapy, women’s service, community, settlement and health. Suggesting ways to approach anti-oppressive practice in an era of globalization, cutbacks and growing inequity, the authors show that dedicated, social justice-oriented social workers can do more than apply band-aids to social problems. They can politicize everyday work with clients, resist oppression and challenge injustice on the front lines, while simultaneously working to transform larger systems.

Contents

• Introduction
• Anti-oppressive Practice: Fighting for space, Fighting for Change (Donna Baines) 
• Women’s services Strategies for Integrating Anti-Oppressive Principles: Perspectives from Feminist Agencies (Lisa Barnoff and Brienne Coleman) 
• Activism in Mainstream Practice: Bridging the Practice-Activism Divide in Mainstream Social Work: Advocacy, organizing and social Movements (Donna Baines) 
• Child Welfare Anti-oppressive Practice in Child Welfare (Susan Strega) 
• Re-envisioning Mainstream Practice “If You Could Change One Thing”: Restructuring, Social Workers, and Social Justice Practice (Donna Baines) 
• First Nations Indigenous Pathways to Anti-Oppressive Practice (Bonnie Freeman)
• Immigration and Resettlement A Resettlement Story of Unsettlement: Transformative Practices of Taking it Personally (Martha Kuwee Kumsa) 
• Mental Health and Feminist Therapy Feminist Therapy, Violence, Problem Drinking and Restorying Women’s Lives: Reconceptualizing Anti-Oppressive Feminist Therapy (Catrina Brown) 
• Frontline Practice: Social Work, Restructuring and Everyday Resistance: “Best Practices” Gone Underground (Krisitin Smith) 
• Community Research and Problem Gambling: Community Action Research—Lessons from the Chinese Communities in Montreal (Rick Sin)
• Transformative Disruptions—Crossing Boundaries to Radicalize Social Work Practice and Education (Notisha Massaquoi) 
• Conclusion—Extending a Radical Tradition: Building Transformative, Politicized Social Work (Donna Baines)
• Afterword—Doing Anti-Oppressive Social Work: The Importance of Resistance, History and Strategy (Akua Bejamin)

About the Author

Donna Baines is Associate Professor of Social Work and Labour Studies at McMaster University. In 2006-07, she was Visiting Scholar, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Donna’s teaching interests include social movements and advocacy, social policy, globalization and restructuring and social justice. Her research interests focus on the impact of restructuring on work in the human services, particularly in the social services; race, class, and gender in everyday social service work; social services work and unions; caring labour; radical social work practice and theory including feminist social work; gendered and racialized impacts of restructuring work, particularly in the social services; anti-racist social work; post modern social work; women and social policy; and structural social work.

Donna has published extensively, in a wide variety of areas, including restructuring, health and safety, bullying, the organization of work for social workers, and social service public policy. Her articles have appeared in Social Work, Journal of Health and Safety, Women and Work, Australian Social Work, Social Justice and Studies in Political Economy, among several other journals. Donna is also editor of Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice. Building Transformative, Politicized Social Work.

Donna is also a board member of Ferncliff Daycare and After School Programme, as well as a member in Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work, Progressive Economics Forum, Society for Socialist Studies, National Activist School Planning Project and Flying Flamingo Sisters.


 

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