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Social Science Social Work

A Poetics of Social Work

Personal Agency and Social Transformation in Canada, 1920-1939

by (author) Ken Moffatt

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2001
Category
Social Work, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802083821
    Publish Date
    Mar 2001
    List Price
    $35.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442670402
    Publish Date
    Mar 2001
    List Price
    $65.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802048608
    Publish Date
    Mar 2001
    List Price
    $51.00

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Description

In A Poetics of Social Work, Ken Moffatt considers the epistemological influences in the field of Canadian social work and social welfare from 1920 to 1939. Here, modernist constructs of knowledge are explored through the analysis of the thought of leading social welfare practitioners, namely Dorothy Livesay, Carl Dawson, Charlotte Whitton, and E.J. Urwick. These four figures represent a wide cross-section of Anglo-Canadian social thought at two of Canada's most influential universities (McGill and Toronto), and Moffatt's study of their thinking reveals the presence of a diversity of approaches to social work and social change during this period.

By challenging the notion that human values and humanitarian concerns were abandoned in favour of science, empirical findings, and technical interpretation of authoritative knowledge, the author attempts to expand the concept of the social work knowledge base and explores how social work emerged as a profession in Canada. Moffatt's study presents a broad context for analysis, and provides fascinating reading and source material for those interested in history, philosophy, literature, and biography, as well as social work and the social sciences.

About the author

Ken Moffatt is Associate Professor and Graduate Programme Director at the School of Social Work, York University.

Ken Moffatt's profile page