Linda Harms Smith
Blaming-the-poor: strengths and development discourses which obfuscate neo-liberal and individualist ideologies.
Harms Smith, Linda
Authors
Abstract
Critical interrogation of social work texts reveals ideologies contributing to hegemonic 'taken-for-granted' knowledge that maintains oppressive power relations. In the South African context of ongoing inequality after the 1994 democratic transition, neo-liberal ideologies have structured and constrained social work knowledge and practice constitutive of social change. Similarly, conservative neo-liberal ideologies underpinning social work knowledge and discourse act performatively to shape practice and social realities. This article, based on a section of the author's PhD study, examines one of the thematic ideological trends found in post-1994 social work texts on poverty and social development, which reflect neo-liberal, individualist ideologies of 'blaming-the-poor' and personal culpability for poverty. A selection of three texts is discussed, illustrating processes and modes of operation of these ideologies in the various approaches proposed.
Citation
HARMS SMITH, L. 2017. Blaming-the-poor: strengths and development discourses which obfuscate neo-liberal and individualist ideologies. International social work [online], 60(2), pages 336-350. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872815594218
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Sep 24, 2015 |
Online Publication Date | Sep 24, 2015 |
Publication Date | Mar 1, 2017 |
Deposit Date | Apr 25, 2017 |
Publicly Available Date | Apr 25, 2017 |
Journal | International social work |
Print ISSN | 0020-8728 |
Electronic ISSN | 1461-7234 |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 60 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 336-350 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872815594218 |
Keywords | Blaming the poor; Development; Ideology; Individualist; Neoliberalism; Social work; Strengths perspectives |
Public URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2286 |
Contract Date | Apr 25, 2017 |
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