The Global Partnership for Transformative Social Work invites and supports global dialogue on transformative inquiry, practice, and pedagogy for the purpose of creating a more humane, tolerant and peaceful world. Drawing on social constructionist and related dialogues, we seek ways to enrich relationships that will enable the generation of new and sustainable futures.
Latest News
Virtual Dialogues
In the Spring of 2020 the GPTSW launched a series of virtual dialogues via
Zoom as a safe alternative to our in-person Gatherings during the COVID
pandemic. The response to this initiative was strong and as of April 2021 we
have completed seven dialogue sessions. Despite the virtual platform, the
discussions were lively and stimulating. In fact, there was a desire to
continue the conversations. In response, we have posted the last discussion
topic on the site and invite you to add your own comments and reflections.
Link to Conversations
Welcome New Board Members
We are excited to have added four new board members over the past year:
Noriko Martinez, Erna O’Connor, Akin Taiwo, and Uta Walter. We look
forward to working together toward the further development of the GPTSW.
Who we are
Welcome to the Global Partnership for Transformative Social Work web site. We are a world-wide, non-affiliated community of social work educators, researchers, theoreticians and practitioners interested in exploring existing and potential expressions and applications of what might loosely be called postmodern thought, in particular the confluence of perspectives termed social construction. These perspectives resonate with our belief that transformations in thinking and practicing are needed to address the challenges of our contemporary global environment.
Social work’s traditional location between mainstream and marginalized society, its commitment to serving oppressed peoples, and its professional mandate to promote a more just social order, position it to be a positive force for transformative change. Capitalizing on this positioning requires new approaches to scholarship, education, practice and inquiry. We need to reinvigorate the social in social work and support the everyday practices of social workers that interrogate and illuminate the genesis, functioning and maintenance of social knowledge and institutions.
While we resonate with social work’s long-standing advocacy for silenced voices, we do not promote a particular political agenda. Rather, we seek to generate new forms of inclusive dialogue and to challenge those discourses that claim privileged knowing or require the suppression of alternative viewpoints. We also believe that social work discourse is impoverished to the extent that it privileges a Western, particularly U.S. and U.K., perspective. Therefore, we seek representation from all parts of the globe. Similarly, while professional boundaries provide a sense of group identity and cohesion, they must be highly permeable to the ideas and practices of other disciplines and fields. Cross-profession and cross-discipline dialogue can provide new possibilities and vision.
If you are interested in our gatherings or other activities or simply would like to be on our mailing list please complete a brief information form
We hope you find our mission, ideas and activities are useful!
Read our newest essay “The Chimera of Progress” and share your thoughts”
