ABSTRACT

Over the last decade we have witnessed increasingly critical appraisals of neoliberalism among social work researchers, educators, and practitioners across the globe. There is growing awareness that neoliberal ideology and its manifestation in institutional arrangements constitute major barriers to social, political and economic justice. However, awareness and critique must always be accompanied by affirmative visions of transformation. We believe the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the political and cultural context in which it unfolds, makes this moment uniquely ripe for progressive change. Drawing on our varied and overlapping teaching experiences during the pandemic, we illustrate lessons this crisis has provided to move from critique to resistance. We focus specifically on two aspects of neoliberalism in social work education in the US: the pull towards individualization and depoliticization, and the embrace of competency-driven education. The pedagogical decisions we made while teaching during COVID-19 illuminate the vast options for resistance at our disposal. While these decisions and strategies arose solely because of the pandemic, their application is not limited to pandemic times. We argue the pandemic provides an impetus for a larger refocusing and recommitment to politicizing social work and foregrounding resistance in all we do.

摘要

在过去的十年中，我们目睹了全球社会工作研究人员、教育工作者和从业者对新自由主义日益批评的评价。人们越来越认识到，新自由主义意识形态及其在制度安排中的表现构成了社会、政治和经济正义的主要障碍。然而，认识和批评必须始终伴随着积极的变革愿景。我们相信，新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 大流行的性质，加上其发生的政治和文化背景，使得此时此刻进行渐进式变革的时机已经成熟。借鉴我们在大流行期间多样化和重叠的教学经验，我们阐述了这场危机为从批评转向抵制提供的教训。我们特别关注美国社会工作教育中新自由主义的两个方面：个性化和去政治化的推动力，以及能力驱动教育的接受。我们在 COVID-19 期间教学时做出的教学决定阐明了我们可以采取的多种抵抗选择。虽然这些决定和策略仅仅是因为大流行而产生，但它们的应用并不限于大流行时期。我们认为，这场大流行病为我们更大范围地重新关注和重新致力于将社会工作政治化以及在我们所做的一切中突出阻力提供了动力。虽然这些决定和策略仅仅是因为大流行而产生，但它们的应用并不限于大流行时期。我们认为，这场大流行病为我们更大范围地重新关注和重新致力于将社会工作政治化以及在我们所做的一切中突出阻力提供了动力。虽然这些决定和策略仅仅是因为大流行而产生，但它们的应用并不限于大流行时期。我们认为，这场大流行病为我们更大范围地重新关注和重新致力于将社会工作政治化以及在我们所做的一切中突出阻力提供了动力。