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Approaching the historical other through hermeneutics

The article discusses the concept of historical other. It draws on a case study of a work in progress – research of the idea of social work derived from the texts of the prominent social worker Jane Addams (1860−1935). The timeline of Addams’ life and work coincides with the establishment of professional social work, in which Addams was one of the central figures and a pioneer activist in the USA. The design of the study has been based on the principles of historical research. Studying history and a person who lived in a different time and culture has brought up a question: how is it possible to understand this kind of otherness? Methodologically, a hermeneutic framework has been essential to the study and has led me to dialogic relationship with Addams’ original texts. The aims of the article are to answer how historical otherness can and should become understandable and why it is important to have this kind of research in social work. I will outline how I have approached and understood historical otherness as a researcher and how the process of understanding has developed during the research project. At the end I will reflect on what this kind of approach can offer me and my understanding of the discipline of social work.