{"title":"Brij Mohan by himself","authors":"Priscilla D. Allen","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687352","url":null,"abstract":"A philosopher by raw definition means one who has a love of wisdom. Dr Brij Mohan has often been termed a social work philosopher, as he, indeed, is one who seeks knowledge with a passion while pondering the meaning of life, and its varied manifestation as reflected in his complex interpretations of social phenomena. Brij has a deep passion for the love of knowledge and the philosophy of science. His writing is poetic and provocative in terms of turning phrases on their head and contemplating the meaning from the inside out. He takes on injustice head-on and bravely faces a landscape that few have ventured. He is a journeyman, a philosopher, a father, a husband, and a prolific and profound force in the social work world whose work literally bridges the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. When I think about ‘‘Brij by himself’’, I think about all of the people he has influenced, the masses of students throughout his 35-year career, the international contacts that link continent to continent. I think about the paradox between a visible man and a prophetic and prolific writer and the solitude of someone whose mind never stops. I think of a man who takes each and every email as a vessel for further contemplation, who always responds to his friends with a personal greeting, and who remembers historical events with lessons for the present. I think of a man who loves Jean Paul Sartre and the existential reality, a man who has told me to endure, to hold on, and to remember that success is the best revenge. When one thinks of success, one is often reminded about resilience and the predilection to endure. Brij embodies these attributes. Part of Brij’s legacy is his predilection to counter internal and external politics and to endure and question power. Brij has outlived any other faculty at the School of Social Work by decades, has experienced more than eight deans at Louisiana State University (LSU) and has taught approximately one-half of all graduates since the beginning of his tenure. When I reflect on the topic ‘‘Brij by himself’’, I think of a man who has experienced challenges in a steadfast manner. I also think of his generosity. It is not often that someone shares so generously with so many, while putting himself out on a limb to protect his core values. Over the past nine years since I have worked with Brij, I have gained hundreds of insights into this man’s","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132632328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The phenomenology of development","authors":"R. Kowalski","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687428","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687428","url":null,"abstract":"The phenomenology of development is presented as the way that development professionals explain the process of development as experienced by themselves and other stakeholders. This justification has itself changed and developed since President Truman coined the term, as theory and practice have proved inadequate. A brief history and explanation of this meta-development are attempted that focuses in on the paradoxical nature of the endeavour as an externally managed intervention. In particular, five paradoxes within development practice are identified as the core challenges to professional practice and congruence that we must address and resolve.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127639065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Some philosophical influences on the thought of Brij Mohan","authors":"T. D. Watts","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687410","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses some key philosophical influences on the thought of Brij Mohan: critical theory; postmodernism; existentialism; and other influences. All have contributed to the holistic, immense scope of his thought.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130073586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social justice as a unifying theme in social work education: principles to realize the promise of a new pedagogical model","authors":"D. Hodge","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687600","url":null,"abstract":"As Mohan notes, social justice can potentially serve as a unifying theme in a new articulation of social work education characterized by inclusion and civil discourse. Yet, historically, social work has often operationalized social justice in a manner that engenders exclusion, rather than inclusion, raising concerns the profession will repeat such mistakes in the future. Building upon Mohan's extensive work in the areas of epistemic pluralism, social justice, and human rights, this article proposes three principles to help realize the promise embedded in the social justice framework while circumventing past problems. These three interrelated guidelines can be summarized as: an affirmation of epistemic pluralism; that creates space for bottom-up, client-centered conceptualizations of social justice; which in turn are congruent with fundamental human rights. Practical pedagogical strategies are provided to foster movement toward a new educational model characterized by inclusiveness and peaceful coexistence.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126393060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Brij Mohan's social policy analysis: a view from Western Europe","authors":"Nick Johns, Mark S. Hyde","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687469","url":null,"abstract":"Although Brij Mohan has an outstanding reputation as a scholar and advocate of global social justice, his distinctive contribution, spanning several fields, has been neglected by Western European social policy analysis (WESPA). This is surprising given that many of the themes that are expressed in his work are highly relevant to this tradition. This article teases out this relevance in two ways. First, it summarises what should arguably be regarded as the three foundational assumptions of WESPA, highlighting their congruence with some of the central themes of Mohan's work. Western European social policy scholars can expect to feel very comfortable with his normative standpoint, as well as his analysis of the dynamics of injustice. Second, we examine in greater depth Mohan's contribution regarding two specific issues, diversity and freedom. Our analysis suggests that Mohan's substantial and varied corpus should be accorded the recognition within WESPA that it so richly deserves.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127467475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Z. Hasan, Radha Kamal Mukerjee, Nathan C. Cohen
{"title":"Brij Mohan: the evolution of a social scientist","authors":"S. Z. Hasan, Radha Kamal Mukerjee, Nathan C. Cohen","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687378","url":null,"abstract":"Thementor–protégé cycle is a perpetual trajectory of generational evolution.My three great mentors – Radha Kamal Mukerjee, Nathan C. Cohen and Eveline M. Burns – represented a tradition of scholarship, which one does not obtain in the current academic culture. Radha Kamal Mukerjee was an intellectual giant, institutionbuilder and a savant of immeasurable human depth; Nathan C. Cohen and Eveline M. Burns offered the same as pioneers in shaping the academic social welfare culture. While these three individuals vastly differed in temperamental and personal attributes, they all shared one common attribute: an uncompromising passion and indelible commitment to scholarship as the core of institutional leadership. It was my privilege to have been one of their protégés in the 1950s. They embodied the best that the three great institutions – Lucknow Unversity, the London School of Economics (LSE), and Columbia University – would offer to the world of social sciences. Brij Mohan, my first successful doctoral graduate and subsequently a colleague, embodies the continued quest of a classic professorial tradition, which seems to be fading away in the fog of new corporate culture. Someone, very important, informally said: ‘‘He may indeed be the last professor in the RKM tradition’’. I had come to the Columbia University School of Social Work, New York in 1954 on a United Nations Social Welfare Scholarship, and enrolled in the New York School of Social Work, Columbia University – later renamed the Columbia University School of Social Work – earning the degrees of Master of Sciences in Social Work (1955) and Doctor of Social Welfare (1958). On my return to my native alma mater, Lucknow University, under the leadership of Dr Radha Kamal Mukerjee, the father of Indian Sociology, social work was emerging as a new profession. Even though it had taken its roots in a few places – Bombay, Varanasi, and Delhi – nowhere in the world was doctoral education available in social work beyond the United States. Lucknow University initiated a PhD in social work in the late 1950s, and two MSW candidates (A.B. Bose and Hira Singh) obtained PhDs under the aegis of the J.K. Institute of Sociology and Human Relations at Lucknow University. Brij Mohan, who joined Lucknow University in 1960, obtained the first PhD degree in the Department of Social Work","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133598385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of global warming and climate change on social development","authors":"A. Mishra, V. Singh, S. Jain","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687626","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687626","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years there has been a lot of discussion on global warming and climate change and its implications for social development – an area that Mohan has devoted his life to. It is now accepted that climate change is real and its impacts will be felt across different sectors ranging from water resources to industries to social arenas. In coming years, people will be affected across the world even more irrespective of their contribution to the cause of global warming and climate change. The very fabric of our society and the goal of social work will be impacted just as well. Climate change is not just a scientific issue, it is just as much a social issue. This article briefly discusses global warming and climate change, their causes, effects on society, future projections and their effects on social development.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125148277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From tribal consciousness and subjective rationality toward global consciousness and objective rationality","authors":"D. Gil","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687402","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687402","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that in order to achieve global siblinghood for the human species, we have to transcend the tribal consciousness and corresponding rationality that emerged in early human societies but has continued to shape interactions among nations up to the present time. This consciousness has to be transformed into a global consciousness and corresponding objective rationality. Such a transformation seems essential to reversing the suicidal course of the species.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"15 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122682762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Brij Mohan, the person","authors":"F. Raymond","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687345","url":null,"abstract":"As someone who has known Dr Brij Mohan for many years, through both professional and personal relationships, I am deeply gratified to be allowed to write an introduction to this special issue of Journal of Comparative Social Welfare that honors this man. I will not discuss the contents of the articles that follow, nor will I describe the immense body of work developed by Dr Mohan over the years. Rather, I will talk about the person I know and, it is hoped, demonstrate how Brij Mohan, the person, is reflected in his professional scholarship. Dr Mohan is a complex person and it would be impossible to describe him fully in a few paragraphs. Nonetheless, I will call attention to those characteristics of Dr Mohan that are most striking to me and, I believe, to others who know him. The first thing one notices about Dr Mohan, when meeting him, reading his works, or hearing him lecture, is his profound intellect. I know of few people in the field of social work and social work education whose intellectual capacities are comparable with his. He is able to conceptualize at a high level, quickly grasping the meaning of complex theoretical and philosophical issues. He is then able to apply these concepts to the subject at hand and thereby develop new and deeper understanding of the matters under consideration. His writings are not ‘‘easy reads’’, but require the average person, who may not be gifted with Dr Mohan’s level of intellectual ability, to devote considerable time, effort, and study in order to the comprehend his messages. The reader who makes such commitment is eventually rewarded with an ‘‘Aha! Moment’’ – the time when the message and meaning of Dr Mohan’s writings become evident. The reader feels newly enlightened as a result of gaining new insights and perspectives from Dr Mohan’s scholarship. Another striking characteristic of Dr Mohan is his vast knowledge. Not only does he know and understand the extensive body of information within the field of social work, but his knowledge base includes the broader field of social science – and beyond. In personal conversations he is able to dredge up quotes and references from material he read years earlier – in diverse areas such as literature, history, poetry, science, philosophy, economics, and mathematics – and to apply these to the topic being discussed. Furthermore, in his scholarship he draws upon this deep reservoir of knowledge to illustrate, clarify, explain, interpret, or shed new light on the subject matter being considered. Dr Mohan obviously reads profusely and his knowledge base is always current. In his scholarly work he regularly refers to contemporary politics, current social issues such as global warming or the economic crisis, recent scientific discoveries, and world affairs. Only a person who is extremely gifted intellectually could read so widely, understand such diverse subject matter, and successfully apply concepts from other areas of intellectual inquiry to provide new understand","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"112 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124746825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Romanticism, community and social services","authors":"W. Epstein","doi":"10.1080/17486831003687394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17486831003687394","url":null,"abstract":"A society engages in policy romanticism when it maintains a tenacious attachment to distorted assertions about reality that are institutionalized in both the public and private sectors. The invocation of community to commend a sublime subjectivity that pre-empts questioning is realized in the concept of social capital. Community and social capital are both romantic notions buttressing American public policies that maintain great inequalities and ignore the concrete needs of many citizens. In the United States, public policy reflects private attitudes. In this way, the inadequacies and ineffectiveness of many social welfare programs are intentional choices rather than distortions of the people's will. Democracy is not an inevitable prelude to decency.","PeriodicalId":270572,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Social Welfare","volume":"93 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124883031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}