The Latin American reconceptualisation movement

Abstract

This article looks some characteristics of the reconceptualisation movement that took place in the mid-1960s in Latin American social work. It focuses on the social, historical, political and theoretical influences that allowed a turning point in social work, in both academic and professional practice, marked mainly by the ideological-political debate about the role of social workers within the national liberation process and the commitment to people on a low income. The article sets out the changes from the entry of modernisation ideas in the mid-1950s and the emphasis on community development, prolegomena to the questionings of the current social assistance model as well as the teaching that was being developed in schools and institutes. Finally, it pays special attention to the role played by the social work publisher Editorial ECRO in Argentina in the diffusion of these “new ideas” in the Americas