SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Introduction By Subesh Pant The main argument of this article is that, when practicing social work with local communities in developing countries, it is often necessary to facilitate political engagement in the process of addressing community needs and issues, and it is important to alter the common ideological position that social work is non-political and non-religious in practice, while focusing instead on the fundamental principles of human rights and social justice. To substantiate this argument, the article clarifies basic concepts relevant to the article; discusses some features of social work education and practice and the neglect of local communities; drawing on secondary data and the author’s observations, analyzes trends in community practice in developing countries; and shows that professional social work has largely neglected local communities. Furthermore, it presents five imperatives why social workers should engage politically in local communities in seek...