Expert Committee for Political Social Work
The expert committee for policy practice and policy engagement in social work is a platform where educators, scholars, and practitioners at the intersection of social work and the making of (social) policies meet and network to discuss the following issues:
- How are policy, politics, and polity embedded in theories of social work? How can we systematically understand and describe the relationship between social work and the making of (social) policies?
- If social work combines micro, mezzo and macro practice, what are the implications for social work methods? How can methods of political science be productively integrated in social work research? What issues and insights from similar disciplines (e.g., policy analysis, political sociology, political psychology, or civic education) are of particular relevance to social work?
- Which experiences from the macro practice of social work should be systematically gathered and analyzed in the academic discourse? Which topics are relevant for social work practitioners and how should they be incorporated in empirical research?
- How can knowledge, skills, and values for a macro practice of social work, especially an engagement in policy practice, be acquired in the context of social work education? Which contents and standards should be mandatory in teaching? How could this be transferred in teaching practice?
- What can be done to promote and strengthen political reflexivity and macro practice? How can social work practitioners be supported to engage professionally, actively, and successfully in political decision-making processes in favor of social justice?
The expert committee is open to active participation; members are encouraged to help shape its contents (see "active members"). However, all interested colleagues are welcome to attend the expert committees’ meetings without active participation (see "events"). If you would like to stay informed about on current developments, job postings, or calls for papers in the field of policy practice and policy engagement in social work, we are happy to add your email address to our email distribution list. Please feel free to contact the chairs of the expert committee at any time.