Focussing on the epistemic – the way in which knowledge is understood,



constructed,



transmitted and used – this book shows the way social work



knowledge has been constructed from within a white western paradigm, and



the need for a critique of whiteness within social work at this epistemic level.



Social work, emerging from the western Enlightenment world, has privileged



white western knowledge in ways that have been, until recently, largely unexamined



within its professional discourse. This imposition of white western



ways of knowing has led to a corresponding marginalisation of other forms



of knowledge. Drawing on views from social workers from Asia, the Pacific



region, Africa, Australia and Latin America, this book also includes a glossary



of over 40 commonly used social work terms, which are listed with their epistemological



assumptions identified. Opening up a debate about the received



wisdom of much social work language as well as challenging the epistemological



assumptions behind conventional social work practice, this book will be



of interest to all scholars and students of social work as well as practitioners



seeking



to develop genuinely decolonised forms of practice.