Indigenizing Social Work in China: Beyond Professional Colonization, Bureaucratic Appropriation, Nativistic Reaction and Commodification of Higher Education
In China, the serious disjunction between a rapid expanding of social work education institutions and a lack of social service related job opportunities causes much concern among committed social work educators as the speed of social work education expansion accelerate within last three years, triple the size within last three years.
This paper analyzes that the current predicament of indigenization process of social work in China is being shaped by four forces- professional colonization, bureaucratic appropriation, nativistic reaction and commodification of higher education.
We argue that professional colonization is a dual process which integrates the desire of social work educators in China to model on a more “scientific and systematic professional social work knowledge” from more developed societies, with the institutional isomorphic pressures of globalization agents. However, the professional colonization processes are contested by the bureaucratic politics of state organs and state sponsored mass organizations which once share the similar scope of social work activities. The bureaucratic definition of social work is legitimized to certain extent by nativistic responses which advocated for the uniqueness of traditional cultural values and social organizations in China, which is either non-existing or undergoing disorganization in the predicament of post-socialist and globalization conditions. The predicament of indigenization process is further complicated by the commodification of higher education in China as the “market obsolete ” disciplines such as history, philosophy are looking for ways to transform and the social work has been chosen as a shelter for institutional survival. At a time when social work with its professional status, careers and job market is still in its process of discovery, contention and negotiation, the surface value of social work is destined to fail.
The authors attempt to advocate a lived experience approach in the indigenization process of social work in coping with these predicaments of social work in China.