Several episodes into this project, and we take a leap back to offer some further groundwork for what we mean when we say "decolonization" in social work but also in society. We hope to clarify that, to paraphrase Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, that decolonization is not a metaphor for a different or better version of the same old social work. Prepare to get out of our comfort zones, everybody!

6: Decolonization, Explained for Social Work

A discussion about social work, oppression, and liberation.

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Wow. What was 2020? There was a lot that happened, a lot of it bad. But there were some moments of clarity that helped show what is also possible in this world. We'll go in a little about that, why student loans should be cancelled, what the point of social work is at this moment in our lives, and this year's Goodreads challenges (spoiler: 2020's challenge didn't go as planned!) 

Transcript can be found here: http://decolonizesocialwork.org/episode/return-sorts

13: A Return (of Sorts)

CW: Please be advised that in the following episode we discuss police violence against Black communities, including murder, and trauma experienced by survivors of human trafficking.

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We need to talk about social workers and the police. Again.

11: ACAB, part 2 - Defunding Edition

With the global and local effects of COVID-19 bearing down on us and without any clear expectation of when it might end, it's as important as ever to take care of our communities. In this episode, we talk about the importance of mutual aid, the history of these networks, and why - if you haven't before - now is the time to seriously consider getting involved with them. 

10: What Is Mutual Aid?

Working under stressful, unhealthy conditions is an ailment in the field of social work that mutes the voices of social workers, leads to burn out, and ultimately results in poor services to our clients. Worker-owned cooperatives offer an alternative to the hyper-capitalistic model we're all familiar with by giving power back to us - the workers - as collective owners of our work. It also enables us to center our values instead of our profit-margins. Listen and learn about the benefits of worker-owned cooperatives, and then get out there and take back social work! And for real, let's agree to stop with the financial literacy classes for our clients.

9: It's Time to Dump Those Financial Literacy Classes


Note: This episode was recorded in October 2019, so while the conversation here is pure and timeless, please excuse a couple of out-of-time mentions about the Kentucky governor's race - cuz that already happened!





Social workers spend a lot of time researching, talking about, and working together to come up with ways we can better serve our clients and communities. But what if the way we improve our services and support was by helping ourselves on the labor side of social work? Social workers routinely talk about how overworked and underpaid they are - but why does it have to be this way? This episode, we talk to a union organizer about the benefits of labor unions, why social workers specifically should seriously think about labor unionization, and a few things to expect if you do wanna take the first step at starting a social worker labor union. We can do this, y'all!






6: Decolonization, Explained for Social Work

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