Social Work, History and Research
The general aim of the group is to provide a forum to bring together scholars with areas of interest in issues related to history, archival research, and social work research. This includes the history of all aspects of social work as well as the history of research in social work. Social work is a rather young profession derived from a broad range of social developments in the last centuries. Therefore, the group intends to incorporate within it the research undertaken by various disciplines that are engaged in historical research on social work, social work research and welfare production. It is an interdisciplinary forum. Archival research, oral history approaches, as well as historic visual material analysis play a pivotal role in this context to explore the various historical facets of social work and research within it. Hence, our group regards methodological reflections on the respective research strategies indispensable to advance social work historiography. In line with the goals of ESWRA, we emphasize the ongoing interconnection of developments in social work across national boundaries in Europe and beyond. This transnational perspective places special emphasis on the flows and translations of knowledge, practices, theories and policies influencing historical developments in countries across the globe. These translations reflect that social work as an important field of social development that is located in a conflictive space, with numerous actors, contrasting interests, and power differentials that are documented, archived, and interpreted in various ways. Our group considers itself as an open forum for these diverging approaches to the history of social work and social work research.
Conveners:
Dr. Darren Hill, Leeds Beckett University, D.Hill@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Prof. Susanne Maurer, University of Marburg, maurer@staff.uni-marburg.de
Prof. Darja Zaviršek, University of Ljubljana, darja.zavirsrk@fsd.uni-lj.si
ssue: SIG Event, Pre-Conference of ECSWR in Munich/Germany, 2025
SIG-event in 2026: HISTORY
"Social Work and (Anti-)Democracy - or: How (A)Political Conceptions of Social Work may contribute to Processes of (De-)Democratization" : a historic and current perspective
SIG-event in 2026: HISTORY
The idea for this thematic focus is inspired by actual driving (and thriving) forces that endanger the foundations (and the possibility) of democratic societies. It is also based on research that investigates the ambivalences of (a)political self-understandings within professional social work related to different historical periods, societal and geopolitical contexts. Can (and how could) we draw on historical experiences within social work to understand the complex and - maybe - also contradictory (pre)conditions and dynamics of (de)democratizing developments?
As in the years before, we would like to open up a common space of reflection about these crucial questions, because democracy is at stake, right here and now, and everywhere. We want to explore these issues from a historic and current perspective.
“The Social Work, History and Research” SIG Call for Papers.
The SIG “Social Work, History and Research” group would like to invite you to submit an abstract for our Special Interest Group pre-conference meeting in Aberdeen, 2026, which is planned as a whole-day-event.
Please do so until the 20th of December, and we will be more than happy to give short notice on the acceptance of your proposals, as to still allow you to register within the time line for the Early Bird fee (which runs out on January, 9th, 2026). We will accept later proposals after that date.
We are hosting a full day SIG, because this will give us, again, the opportunity to divide the day into two distinct slots:
Part 1 of the day will look at diverse conceptions of social work that could be described or understood as ‘political’ or ‘a-political’. Historical research that is related to this issue may refer to
Part 2 of the day will be open to all papers examining any aspect of social work history and history related research.
We would especially welcome proposals that seek to examine the issues mentioned above with the use of critical memory work and through a variety of lenses, positions, positionalities, regions, and countries.
Email proposals to d.hill@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Susanne Maurer, Darren Hill and Darja Zavirsek. (Convenors of the SIG)
