(Routledge International Handbooks) 1st Edition
by Lena Dominelli (Editor)
Green social work espouses a
holistic approach to all peoples and other living things – plants and
animals, and the physical ecosystem; emphasises the relational nature of
all its constituent parts; and redefines the duty to care for and about
others as one that includes the duty to care for and about planet
earth.
By acknowledging the interdependency of all living things
it allows for the inclusion of all systems and institutions in its
remit, including both (hu)man-made and natural disasters arising from
the (hu)made ones of poverty to chemical pollution of the earth’s land,
waters and soils and climate change, to the natural hazards like
earthquakes and volcanoes which turn to disasters through human
(in)action. Green social work’s value system is also one that favours
equality, social inclusion, the equitable distribution of resources, and
a rights-based approach to meeting people’s needs to live in an ethical
and sustainable manner. Responding to these issues is one of the
biggest challenges facing social workers in the twenty-first century
which this Handbook is intended to address.
Through
providing the theories, practices, policies, knowledge and skills
required to act responsibly in responding to the diverse disasters that
threaten to endanger all living things and planet earth itself, this
green social work handbook will be required reading for all social work
students, academics and professionals, as well as those working in the
fields of community development and disaster management.
