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Social justice, first? The policy action of South European social workers’ professional organisations in the shadow of austerity

ABSTRACT Political responsibility is firmly rooted in social professions, but comparative studies showed that the policy engagement of social workers tends to be low. It appears that something might have changed in the critical juncture Southern Europe has been experiencing in the last 10 years. Economic recession and austerity politics have had particularly significant effects on social and human rights, leading social workers to radical and dramatic responsibilities to act for social justice, thus providing a research test case. The evolutions of social workers’ policy practice in the shadow of austerity are addressed in three steps. First, the importance and pitfalls of collective policy practice and the role of social workers’ professional organisations (SWPOs) are discussed. Second, various hypotheses about the evolution of policy practice under the pressures of recession and austerity are outlined. Third, the situated action of SWPOs in Italy and Spain in such times is analysed. Results develop the debate on social workers’ policy practice and contributes to (a) better defining the relevance of SWPOs for individual policy practice; and (b) identifying different, but intertwined, approaches of SWPOs policy action in Southern Europe, i.e. ‘social justice, first’ and ‘profession, first’.