How to notice Subtle Differences
to contribute to more Sustainable approaches in Social Work?

(Come notare sottili differenze per favorire approcci più sostenibili nel lavoro sociale?)

Open Seminar / Seminario Aperto

Pisa, 17 ottobre 2019, 14:30 – 17:30
Aula E1 Polo Piagge

Speaker: Randi Edland Kroken, Associate Professor in Social Work at University of Agder
Introduce: Matteo Villa. Gregory Bateson’s world of difference: a brief introduction

Materials:
Flyer/Locandina: HERE / QUI
R.E. Kroken, Slide Presentation / Presentazione: HERE / QUI
M. Villa, Slide Presentation / Presentazione HERE / QUI

Tema (IT): Diverse implicazioni del neoliberismo nel mondo occidentale a partire dagli anni ’90 minacciano i valori umani nel lavoro sociale. Come dalla prospettiva di Gregory Bateson, in particolare alla luce della sua nota citazione “una differenza che fa la differenza”, la nostra comprensione della situazione attuale nel lavoro sociale può essere migliorata? Come funziona la nostra sensibilità sui sottili meccanismi di controllo, sui rischi della nuova governance e sulle potenzialità delle piccole differenze nel favorire risposte positive?

Theme (EN): Several implications of neoliberalism in the Western World since the 1990s threatens human values in Social Work. How by the Gregory Bateson perspective, particulary in the light of his quote “a difference that makes a difference”, our understanding of the current situation in Social work may be enhanced? How supporting our sensitivity on subtle control mechanisms work, on the risks of the new governance and on potentials of tiny differences in fostering positivive answers?

Randi Edland Kroken holds a doctorate in social work. She has researched how concrete responsibility is transformed in the welfare state as a system. From being a concrete phenomenon at the grassroots level, responsibility appears to turn into something more abstract and floating at the macro level. The result is that social workers get squeezed in practice. The challenge is to explore how language, theoretical, but also literary perspectives can strengthen an understanding of what is happening in practice and how one can convey voices from a soft sector in order to look more closely upon how social work is situated in a wider cultural and social landscape.