Trabajo Social Comunitario: hacia unas políticas públicas sostenibles

Abstract

The Community Social Work, having left aside its fundamental role in the organization and social development of communities, reappears as a complementary approach, technically viable and ethically necessary, thus giving response to the commercialization of The Social, in a global scenario of Social Policies based on austerity, which prioritize an exclusively individual and care oriented Social Work. Contrary to the neoliberal policies focussing on the responsibility of the individual in his-her own exclusion, Social Work is betting, as a complementary way of acting and ethical positioning, for a new community dimension. This demands a methodological renewal thus requiring new professional skills. Based on a comparative analysis, we consider Community Social Work the right tool so as to generate Public Policies capable not only of recovering social rights but also offering a more effective, efficient and sustainable management model. We conclude that the analysed community-oriented interventions are bypassing competition among social actors, favouring a fluid communication involving political administrators, technical-professional resources and citizenship. Furthermore, they incorporate the evaluation and systematization of professional practice, thus contributing to a greater social cohesion, as well as to a collective and joint reflection on common solutions.