Recontextualization

Abstract

The concept of recontextualization has received minimal attention in social work literature. Exploring the practical and political ways in which social work has been re-constructed in contexts different to mainstream human services is the focus of this chapter. By linking recontextualization with social work, the authors are extending its meaning beyond what it had come to mean to date. Reflecting upon the authors' lived praxis experience provides insights into how their wish to explore recontextualization in social work features at different stages in their own journeys. Contributions from social workers in Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Australia provide a kaleidoscope of ways in which social work is being recontextualized. Some of the ways they achieve this is by reframing social work within the post-human space and integrating Ubuntu philosophy, which highlights Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and relationships encompassing all people and their environments, enabling interconnectedness and community solidarity for collective power in professional practice and political activism.