Facing culture: the (de)legitimation of social work

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how Dutch social workers make sense of the cultural otherness produced by clients with migrant origins and relates this to the various discourses that constitute the legacy of Dutch social work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper relies on a historical discourse analysis based on secondary sources and on a fieldwork study performed in a contemporary organization. Findings – The analysis reveals three different discourses. The first relates to how the association of social work with government policy produces a generalised “otherness” as the practical starting point for the social workers’ interventions, and a specific kind of cultural indifference. The second concerns a discourse around lifestyle interventions influenced by a specific tradition of institutionalised diversity called pillarization. Finally, there is a discourse in which social workers are expressly expected to be “open” to their individual clients’ specific backgrounds which generates scope for a “constructivist” conceptualization of cultural diversity. Originality/value – The paper offers insights into the discursive construction of social work.