Emancipatory social work and social intervention: contributions from Argentinian social work

Abstract

In this article, we give a general presentation of what we mean by social intervention from the political-ideological, theoretical-methodological and epistemological perspective that we have referred to in a recent work as 'emancipatory social work'. First, we briefly refer to the meaning of emancipation. Second, we discuss a way of thinking about and doing social work that we call 'emancipatory social work', an approach practised from Argentina through Latin America to the Caribbean as a response to the challenges involved in the changing times of 'Our America', as the Cuban poet Jose Martí called the great Latin American nation. In the third part, we analyse the main features of social intervention, conceived as a form of social work, and the implications that these have for training and the political-professional project.