Reimagining Social Work in AotearoaA guest post from Dr David Kenkel
A dictionary definition describes nostalgia as “A wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to, or of, some past period or irrecoverable condition” (Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, 2024). Nostalgia can be vicious; it is often a great deal more than the wistful yearnings for earlier remembered paradises.
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Kia ora – us again!
You probably don’t remember us, but we’re the trio of social service professionals and animal rights activists trying to open up the conversation within the social service sector about the imminent danger climate change poses to tamariki and whānau: the connection between social work’s code of ethics and animal sentience – and how social work should be paying more attention to this existential threat!
As 2023 drew to an end, two executive members of the International Federation of Social Workers – Joachim Mumba, IFSW President & Pascal Rudin, IFSW Acting CEO – posted an email to all IFSW members. In it, they stated, “As we approach the end of another remarkable year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible contributions and achievements of our profession worldwide” and went on to wish “you all a joyful holiday season and a successful, fulfilling year ahead”.
As a Collective we have developed a practice of reflection on the year past and the challenges ahead. The following are individual messages, yet they coalesce as an affirmation of unity and resolve. Times like these, locally and globally, can induce a logic of despair and defeatism, but such regressive political times can also engender a stubborn, stoic project of informed resistance. Don’t let anyone tell you that a more inclusive and socially just world is impossible. It is better by far, in whatever ways are open to you, to be a small part of making it so.
In this guest post from Kerri Cleaver (Lecturer, Whare Wānanaga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury), Kerri explains her personal response to recent government changes.
Ko wai au?
Ko Aoraki te mauka
Ko Takitimu te waka
Ko Aparima te awa
Nō Kai Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha ahau
He uri au o kā hapū o Te Ruahikihiki me Taoka
Ko Kerri Cleaver ahau