Author: RSW Collective

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Deconstructing Disinformation

As social workers committed to progressive policies, critical thinking and community safety it has become urgent that we learn to protect ourselves, our colleagues, our whānau and our communities from disinformation. Luckily there are now a range of evidence-informed approaches that can help us do that.

The RSW collective has created a new page on our blog to maintain a curated list of resources on tackling disinformation. If you want to recommend others please use the comments box to let us know.

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What does the High Court vaccine mandate decision mean?

Guest post by an Anonymous social worker

What does the High Court vaccine mandate decision mean?

The decision released last week about the overturning of the vaccine mandate for Police and Defence personnel has sparked fresh debate about the validity of the mandates. The High Court decision is being lauded by those opposed to mandates as being evidence that all mandates were wrong.

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The anti-mandate movement: motorbike helmets and neoliberalism

A guest post from David Kenkel

What I am aiming to do in this piece is to connect some threads that I don’t see commonly linked and raise some questions about who benefits from the anti-mandate movement and the potential position of social work in managing our current situation.

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Ka whawhai tonu mātou! We continue to fight.

In this final RSW post for 2021 Neil Ballantyne and Ian Hyslop reflect on the conflicted and generative relationship between social injustice and social work. It has been a difficult year for many. Our old certainties have been challenged as the pandemic has spread suffering globally, particularly, as always, for the poor and dispossessed. The title of this post – “Ka whawhai tonu mātou” (struggle without end) is taken from the title of Ranginui Walker’s classic text. It was the cry that met British soldiers as they invaded Ōrākau Pā in Kihikihi, in 1864: “We will fight on forever”.

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Why women’s participation in active transport might help eliminate future pandemics.

A guest post by Ai Sumihira

It has been a while since alert level 4 was declared in August 2021. Yes, it is extremely worrying to be in lockdown for such a long period, with annoyingly infectious variant of disease. – Just trying to breathe and to look for something positive. On the quiet road during the alert level 4, I could hear birds. I saw small children riding bike. Footpaths in busy suburbs were full of people. And Yes, life with less traffic noise is somewhat tranquil.

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