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This book, grounded in a human rights framework, takes a close look at social work approaches and practices in Southeast Europe. Human rights are central in today's understanding of social work as an academic discipline and as a professional practice. Looking at social work through a human rights lens unmasks inequality and discrimination, promotes ethical engagements, and contributes to the social, political, and economic betterment of society. Moreover, human rights and social work are interdependent and have far-reaching implications at macro, mezzo, and micro levels both in the realm of social policy and in professional practice.
This collection of eight chapters provides an overview of human rights practices in social work in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Romania, and Slovenia. It presents state-of-the-art research on human rights and social work through individual country-focused chapters. In addition, it includes an integrative introductory chapter that identifies and discusses the commonalities and differences across the region as well as future directions.
The book takes an integrated approach with conversations among the contributors on three main questions:
- What is the state of human rights in social work?
- How are human rights practiced in social work?
- What are the prospects for an integrated approach to human rights in social work in contemporary Southeast Europe?
Human Rights in this Age of Uncertainty is essential reading for social work academics and practitioners in Southeast Europe due to its geographic focus and standpoints from the specific countries of the region. The book also should appeal to a wider European audience (especially as the book features chapters from both inside and outside of the European Union), as well as to an international audience of social work scholars. In addition, policy-makers may find the book a useful resource because human rights discourse features prominently in the international approaches to welfare systems across Southeast Europe as part of the Europeanisation processes currently at play.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Human Rights, Social Work, and Uncertainty: An Introduction to Southeast Europe.- Chapter 2 Overcoming Troubling Practices Against Roma and Among Roma People: A Human Rights Perspective in Slovenian Social Work.- Chapter 3 Integrating Social Work with Human Rights in Croatia: A Long Way to Mutual Recognition.- Chapter 4 Pathways to a Rights-based Paradigm in Social Work: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina.- Chapter 5 Human Rights and Social Work in Pandemic Times in Kosovo.- Chapter 6 Social Work and Local Democracy: Promoting Human Rights Through Community Action in Albania.- Chapter 7 Human Rights and Social Work Practices in the Age of Uncertainty: The Case of Romania.- Chapter 8 Human Rights and Social Work in Bulgaria: Policy, Practice, Education.
About the author
Vjollca Krasniqi is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Social Work and the Faculty of Arts, University of Prishtina, Kosovo. She holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Ljubljana; an MSc degree in Gender, Development, and Globalization from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); and a bachelor¿s degree in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Prishtina. Her research interests are gender, human rights, nation-building, and social policy. She has led and participated in numerous international research projects and published widely on these topics. She is member of the Executive Board of the East European Sub-Regional Association of Schools of Social Work. She has actively engaged on gender equality and dealing with the past issues in Kosovo and the wider Balkan region. She has served on the boards of directors of several civil society organizations in Kosovo.
Jane McPherson is Associate Professor and Director of Global Engagement at the University of Georgia School of Social Work in Athens, Georgia, USA. Her scholarship examines social work through a human rights lens, and she applies human rights principles to research, teaching, and practice. Her measurable framework for human rights practice in social work and its accompanying scales have been widely translated for use around the world. Locally and globally, she promotes participatory, transparent, accountable, and anti-discriminatory social work practices¿especially those that address the unequal distribution of wealth, health, political power, and community wellness. Prior to becoming a scholar, Dr. McPherson practiced social work for over 20 years, working in maternal-child health, child welfare, bereavement, and in the treatment of survivors of political torture.
