Social work in the 21st century: Scholarship and praxis reimagined towards vulnerability is an open-access book published by AOSIS.

This scholarly book, Social work in the 21st century: Scholarship and praxis reimagined towards vulnerability, is the third volume in the ‘Knowledge Pathing: Multi-, Inter- and Trans-Disciplining in Social Sciences’ book series. Chapters were invited from contributing authors who are involved in social work practice and education and who are dealing with the issues of poverty, inequality and vulnerability in these fields.

The focus of the book emanates from the main conference theme and sub-themes of the ASASWEI (Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions) conference held in 2021. The theme of the conference, ‘Pandemics, poverty, inequality and disability: Social work in the 21st century’, provided an opportunity for deep deliberation, knowledge exchange and skills development on how vulnerable communities, already on the economic margins of society due to poverty and inequality, are further marginalised during significant societal disruptions such as the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is these deliberations which culminated in this book. Drawing on the papers presented, the chapters promote knowledge and skills around vulnerabilities in our social context and how the social work profession is challenged to interrogate its role in addressing the persistent challenges of poverty and inequality that keep people on the peripheries of human development.

The target audience for this book is primarily academics engaged in the field of social work and related fields.

Copyright (c) 2024 Allucia L Shokane, Annaline Keet, Varoshini Nadesan (Volume editors)

This scholarly book emphasises the dynamic challenges the world is besieged by, particularly in the 21st century. The manuscript emphasises the intersectoral collaboration of social workers and civil societies to transform the world in the delivery of services through interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary modes of operation. To equip societies, practitioners and professionals with effective strategies to deal with administrative, financial and community developmental issues, as well as developing effective assessment instruments that can benefit social work research in academic institutions. Social work is a crucial field, even though some disciplines tend to undermine its role. As the late ex-president of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, would say: ‘The very right to be human is denied every day to hundreds of millions of people as a result of poverty, the unavailability of basic necessities such as food, jobs, water and shelter, health care and a healthy environment’.

Dr Glory M Lekganyane, Department of Social Work,
Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education,
University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa