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Rethinking Skill in Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice with Skilled Immigrant Professionals.
- Source :
- British Journal of Social Work; Jan2015, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p363-377, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Scholarly and policy responses to skilled immigrants' labour market integration in Canada have a tendency to normalise and individualise skill as a key issue to address immigrants' labour market challenges. In contrast, a small body of anti-oppressive social work advocates the need for examining the racist and assimilationist assumptions that lead to dec-skilling and propose structurally oriented recommendations. In this paper, I draw from the historical materialist method of ideological critique and critical scholarship on work and learning for work to make a case that, since the notion of skill does not have a stable referent and is ideologically malleable, it helps to mask the exploitative relation between labour and capital in the job market. I argue that such an understanding of skill would sharpen the repertoire of anti-oppressive practice with skilled immigrant professionals by encouraging practitioners to acknowledge de-skilling as a fundamental aspect of the system they are critiquing, and thereby reorienting their critique to incorporate larger political economic structures. I conclude by proposing a dialogue between practitioners and researchers about the efficacy and viability of this proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00453102
- Volume :
- 45
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- British Journal of Social Work
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 100983831
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bct111