Ubuntu Philosophy and Decolonising Social Work Fields of Practice in Africa

Janestic Mwende Twikirize, Sharlotte Tusasiirwe, Rugare Mugumbate, Janestic Mwende Twikirize, Sharlotte Tusasiirwe, Rugare Mugumbate

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781000965599
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book addresses a recurrent gap in social work literature by examining Ubuntu as an Indigenous African philosophy that informs social work beyond the largely residual and individualistic conceptualisation of social work that currently prevails in many contexts. Owing to the lack of social work theories, models and generally, literature that is locally and contextually relevant, most social work lecturers based in African context, struggle to access learning materials and texts that centre local indigenous voices and worldviews.
It is within this context that the ubuntu philosophy has gained traction. There is increasing consensus that Ubuntu as an African philosophy and way of life, has the potential to be used as a decolonising framework for social work education and practice. Theorising from Ubuntu can influence and be the foundation for African social work theory and knowledge, social work values and ethics, social work research and policy, and Ubuntu informing different fields of social work practice like social work with older people, children and young people, ubuntu and poverty alleviation, ubuntu and the environment, among others.
Drawing together social workers engaged in education, research, policy, practice, to theorise Ubuntu and its tenets, philosophies, and values, this book shows how it can be a foundation for a decolonised, more relevant social work education and practice in African contexts.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• PART I Theoretical Perspectives − Ubuntu and Decolonising Social Work
• PART II Ubuntu and Decolonising Social Work Ethics and Fieldwork
• PART III Ubuntu and Social Work with Families
• PART IV Ubuntu and Environmental Social Work
• PART V Ubuntu and Other Fields of Practice
• PART VI Looking Ahead
• Index