Feminist and empowerment theory and social work practice

Feminist and empowerment theories are especially important to the understanding of individual and sociopolitical levels of social work assessment and intervention. Incorporating feminist and empowerment approaches in practice will provide social workers with the knowledge, values and skills most likely to promote human rights and social justice. In this paper, we present an overview of both theories and illustrate them with a case example.     

The status of women among the scheduled tribes in India

The scheduled tribes constitute about 8.2% of the total population in India. Although there is a large volume of anthropological literature describing the characteristics of and differences among the various tribes in India, little inter-disciplinary research has been done to uncover the status of women among the tribal population in India. This paper will analyze the status of women among the scheduled tribes in India. Frequent comparisons will be made to the social and cultural practices of the scheduled tribes, mainstream Hindus, as well as the scheduled caste population. Through this analysis, we will show the distinctiveness of the tribal cultures and the fact that many women from the scheduled tribes face less discrimination than Hindu women and those from scheduled castes.     

浅谈综合英语课中学生能力的培养

综合英语课是最具有中国特色的英语专业基础骨干课程。它课时多、周期长、影响大 ,是各门课程的龙头。如今 ,应试教育正向素质教育转轨 ,而能力培养则是核心内容。信息时代的综合英语课应该以培养学生能力为突破口 ,积极开创教学新局面 ,以期教学质量的提高     

赋权与增能：农民工弱势地位改变的根本途径

农民工①作为一个特殊的群体，为国家和社会的经济发展做出了巨大的贡献，可是他们处于社会的弱势和边缘状态，无法分享经济和社会发展的成果。对此，文章分析了农民工弱势地位的基本表现，农民工弱势地位的产生原因，提出改变农民工弱势地位的途径：赋权和增能。     

Open spaces for dialogue promoting mental health as a social work education methodology

ABSTRACT

The authors discuss service user involvement as a key approach regarding training of social workers. In many European Union countries this is a stable practice with a lengthy tradition in research and application. However, in Poland it is almost entirely absent and marginalized. This article presents the results of a participatory action research project conducted at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the objective of which was to identify and critically analyze the key substantive and formal aspects of training of social workers with the participation of individuals with experience of mental illness. This research project adopted an open approach to cognizing reality based on qualitative co-participatory methods. In the conclusion, the authors emphasize that the fundamental criterion for the success of this particular form of training is voluntary and differentiated participation of students—both in the role of people sharing their own experience and as learners—as well as shaping a culture of open dialogue, educational alliances of recognition and recovery, the foundation of which is axiological experience.     

Promoting sustainable development through civil society: A case study of the EU’s NSA/LA thematic programme in Kyrgyzstan

The article focuses on the contribution of the European Union (EU) in promoting sustainable development through the involvement of civil society in partner countries. More specifically, it analyses the main features and outcomes of the projects implemented by civil society organizations (CSOs) in Kyrgyzstan under the EU thematic programme Non‐State Actors and Local Authorities in Development (NSA/LA). Despite its importance—this is the only EU programme providing direct support to non‐state actors and local authorities engaged in poverty reduction—to date, there has been very little research on the functioning of this instrument on the ground. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining the EU’s contribution to sustainable development through a case study on Kyrgyzstan. The study is based on primary data: 10 semi‐structured interviews conducted with the EU‐funded organizations implementing the NSA/LA programme. The NSA/LA projects were analysed by considering two major fields of engagement of non‐state actors in the development process: as service providers and as advocates (Banks & Hulme, 2012). Overall, the organizations awarded EU support were not only focused on fulfilling short‐term needs but also sought to introduce new ways of dealing with poverty and inequality, positioning themselves between the “Big‐D” and the “little‐d” approaches to development (Bebbington, Hickey, & Mitlin, 2008). Nonetheless, the EU‐funded projects were too limited and fragmented to be able to sustain long‐term structural change. Therefore, the EU should place new emphasis on creating synergies between new and old structures at the grassroots level and establishing mechanisms and bodies that could merge and co‐ordinate their efforts. In addition, the calls for proposals could highlight the need to share the lessons learnt by “obliging” the beneficiaries to act as multipliers and to pass on their positive experience to neighbouring communities. Finally, the EU could stimulate the funded organizations to experiment with innovative mechanisms of involvement in the policy‐making process, by making this aspect a mandatory requirement of the projects implemented with its support.     

Democracy and human development: recent legislation in India

Human Development (HD) requires that development must accompany fundamental human concerns that make life worth living. It is surprising that despite being a democracy, India performs poorly on HD. In this backdrop, four pieces of legislation of different orientations have been passed since 1998–99: ‘Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana’, the ‘Right to Information’, the ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Act’ and the ‘Right to Education’. Where successful, they have empowered the beneficiaries. Though not expressed as such, nor exclusively directed to this end, these pieces of legislation are bound together with democracy's demand for HD: they are influenced externally by various aspects of globalisation; internally, development is continuously interrogated by democracy, competitive politics and social activism.     

冲突与达鹄:公众参与视野下的长三角公共冲突事件分析——基于2010-2012年的案例

以2010-2012年发生在长三角的公共冲突事件为例,运用案例比较分析方法,对公众参与和公共冲突事件的关系进行分析。研究发现:长三角地区的公共冲突事件起因多与公众的经济权益受损相关,作为中间变量,社会公众往往以非制度化参与致使冲突升级为"威胁","迫使"上级政府出面协调各方利益并终止公共冲突。分析表明:赋予并落实公众公共事务参与权利,有助于解决中国当前面临的公共冲突问题。     

控制性赋权:基层政府精准扶贫的实践逻辑——基于国家级贫困县J村的田野考察

“赋权”是理解精准扶贫政策的重要视角。田野考察发现基层扶贫实践既有“赋权”又有变通的“控制”,由此导致了扶贫过程中“精准”程度有所差异,为此,需要从基层政府的行动逻辑分析精准扶贫的实践逻辑。研究发现,地方政府从外部选派驻村扶贫工作队,由于较少受到当地社会网络的约束使其能够“理性行动”,但在“限期”脱贫的目标责任制下,基层的扶贫工作队受到了“规避责任”与“追求政绩”的双重约束,故此工作队根据自利原则策略性地选择了赋权或控制策略。进一步考察发现,扶贫工作队主要通过利用传统权力结构、地方性知识及现代化知识话语“异化”赋权策略,从而构建了“控制性赋权”的实践逻辑。基于此,地方政府应着力于构建“外派”与“内生”相结合的基层扶贫工作队,设置部分基于“赋权”“参与”的考核指标,培训提高扶贫干部对贫困户的尊重和理解,从而使得长效脱贫的精准扶贫政策能够得以执行。     

A praxis and Research Agenda for Multicultural Human Services Organizations

Human services organizations in the United States are currently faced with the problems of a diminishing and shifting resource base coupled with increasing demands for services. In addition, national demographic changes with increasing social diversity, and a rise in racial, ethnic, gender and other group-based tensions have posed special challenges for human service organizations. By tracing the history of social work approaches to working with ethnic minorities, this paper argues that responses to environmental flux have in fact been inadequate in addressing issues of social inequalities and injustices. We articulate a vision of socially just and diverse human services organizations that are both empowering and empowered. We call these Multicultural Human Services Organizations (MHSO). We spell out praxis and research agendas that continue the social justice-social diversity mission that is central to our vision.