Trabajo Social y Derechos Humanos: perspectivas, posibilidades y desafíos a partir de la experiencia chilena

Abstract

This article analyses and discusses how the relationship between Social Work and human rights has been constructed in Chile. In order to achieve this, we incorporate elements of the biographical-narrative approach along with testimonies from professionals that worked in this field during the civic-military dictatorship. Based on this approach, the concept of human rights work is redefined including an intergenerational viewpoint that takes into account new perspectives concerning the rights approaches and their relation to social policies. We discuss the implications of the findings, integrating an intergenerational approach on human rights both within the professional practice and reflection, thus including the contributions from different generations in the context of post-dictatorship Chile. The paper concludes by illustrating challenges in tackling new problems that require a repositioning of this approach and a widening of its scope. This implies including collective groups and social phenomena that have not been previously considered.