Social work beyond the pandemic: Exploring social work values for a new eco-social world

Abstract

This article draws on a series of international research-focused webinars with social workers in 2022. They were designed to examine the rethinking of professional values during the pandemic in the context of other global crises, particularly the climate emergency. Participants readily shared ethical issues relating to self-care, digital working and reduced bureaucracy during the pandemic and implications for future practice. The need for holistic, community-based approaches integrating social, health and economic aspects of people’s lives arose, and the importance of seeing humans as part of the natural world (eco-social approaches). Awareness of newer post-anthropocentric and posthuman philosophies was less evident.