Assistant Professor Skidmore College, United States
‘Decolonization’ is an emerging buzzword in social work with refugee communities. Yet, minimal empirical research explores what constitutes ‘decolonizing’ social work practice and research with such communities. This session uncovers how social workers and refugees conceptualize and implement the sub-Sahara African philosophy of ubuntu in social work in East Africa.
Learning Objectives:
Define and discuss the significance of “decolonizing” social work practice, research, and policy with forcibly displaced communities in formerly colonized and colonizing contexts.
Describe how the sub-Sahara African worldview, ubuntu, is conceptualized and applied by social work academics, practitioners, and people experiencing refugee status in East Africa.
Understand how implementing ubuntu with refugee communities in the Global South and Global North may constitute a reciprocal relationship between social workers and service users.
.png)
