Global challenges and their impact on the political-ideological project of social work

This project aims to analyse and reflect on global trends and challenges and their impact on the ideological and political project of Social Work today. To this end, we will reflect on current problems and challenges and how they influence Social Work, particularly its ideological and political projects. Theoretically, we will reflect on “”What is ideology”” and its role in Social Work. To do this, we will draw on Engels & Marx (2007), Gramsci (1978), Pierre Bourdieu and Luc Boltanski (2008) and Slavoj Žižek (1999). A reflection on the relevance of the concept of class struggle and its place in the political-ideological project of social work will also be presented, with the support of the perspectives presented by Bourdieu (2007), Lahire (2006), Wright (1989, 1997) and Estanque (2012), Iamamoto, 1998, Netto (1992), Faleiros (2009), Webb (2019, 2023). The theoretical reflection ends with a reading of current societies from the point of view of the concept of risk and individualisation, based on the readings of Beck (2015, 2017) and Bauman (2016, 2017, 2018). To understand the global problems and current challenges in social work, we sent questionnaires (around 150) to social workers. We also sought to analyse how these risks and challenges impact the identity and conception of Social Work to understand the political and ideological project intrinsic to Social Work from the perspective of the professionals taking part in the study.