Stifled Progress : Social Work and Social Policy in the Era of Right-Wing Populism

Social work as a democratically constituted profession committed to human rights is currently facing cross-border encroachments and attacks by right-wing populist movements and governments. With the Bundestag elections in September 2017, the question of the extent to which right-wing populist forces succeed in influencing the discourse with xenophobic and nationalist arguments arises in Germany too. The authors examine how social work can respond effectively to nationalism, exclusion, de-solidarization and a basic skepticism about science and position itself against this background.