ABSTRACT Political responsibility is firmly rooted in social professions, but comparative studies showed that the policy engagement of social workers tends to be low. It appears that something might have changed in the critical juncture Southern Europe has been experiencing in the last 10 years. Economic recession and austerity politics have had particularly significant effects on social and human rights, leading social workers to radical and dramatic responsibilities to act for social justice, thus providing a research test case. The evolutions of social workers’ policy practice in the shadow of austerity are addressed in three steps. First, the importance and pitfalls of collective policy practice and the role of social workers’ professional organisations (SWPOs) are discussed. Second, various hypotheses about the evolution of policy practice under the pressures of recession and austerity are outlined. Third, the situated action of SWPOs in Italy and Spain in such times is analysed. Results develop the debate on social workers’ policy practice and contributes to (a) better defining the relevance of SWPOs for individual policy practice; and (b) identifying different, but intertwined, approaches of SWPOs policy action in Southern Europe, i.e. ‘social justice, first’ and ‘profession, first’.

中文翻译：

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首先是社会正义？紧缩阴影下南欧社会工作者专业组织的政策行动

摘要政治责任根植于社会职业，但比较研究表明，社会工作者的政策参与度较低。在过去的十年中，南欧经历的关键时刻似乎有所改变。经济衰退和紧缩政治对社会和人权产生了特别重大的影响，导致社会工作者承担着为实现社会正义而负起的重大责任，从而提供了研究案例。紧缩政策下社会工作者政策实践的演变分为三个步骤。首先，讨论了集体政策实践的重要性和陷阱以及社会工作者专业组织（SWPO）的作用。第二，概述了有关在衰退和紧缩压力下政策实践演变的各种假设。第三，分析了SWPO在意大利和西班牙的情况。结果引发了有关社会工作者政策实践的辩论，并有助于（a）更好地确定SWPO在个人政策实践中的相关性；（b）确定南欧SWPO采取不同但相互交织的政策行动方式，即“社会正义至上”和“职业至上”。