The COVID-19 pandemic has placed social work in the limelight alongside the various medical professions and has created a rare opportunity for transforming the oppressed image of the profession. Based on a broad perspective—historical, social and political—we show how the development of a collective needs-conscious identity can lead to active protests on the part of social workers against their condition. This process is brought into sharp focus by critical analysis of media reports on the protests held by social workers in Israel in July 2020. An analysis of the struggle points to a number of factors that are responsible for its success: creating a collective consciousness with respect to the profession and the use of anger (as against fear); increasing the visibility of the profession in the public eye and the media; developing a dialogue that defined the party responsible for oppressing the status of the social workers; highlighting the ramifications of this oppression not only on the social workers but also on society as a whole; and using rhetoric that enabled the professional struggle to be ended and collaboration to be continued. The significance of these findings and their theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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百年一遇：COVID-19 是否为重构以色列社会工作者的专业形象提供了机会？

COVID-19 大流行使社会工作与各种医学专业一起成为众人瞩目的焦点，并为改变该专业受压迫的形象创造了难得的机会。基于广泛的视角——历史的、社会的和政治的——我们展示了集体需求意识身份的发展如何导致社会工作者对他们的状况进行积极的抗议。通过对媒体对 2020 年 7 月以色列社会工作者举行的抗议活动的报道进行批判性分析，这一过程得到了高度关注。对斗争的分析指出了促成其成功的许多因素：建立尊重的集体意识职业和愤怒的使用（反对恐惧）；提高该专业在公众眼中和媒体中的知名度；开展对话，确定负责压迫社会工作者地位的一方；强调这种压迫不仅对社会工作者而且对整个社会的影响；并使用能够结束专业斗争并继续合作的言论。讨论了这些发现的意义及其理论和实践意义。