Globalization, Social Justice, and the Helping Professions

This landmark book brings together the reality of globalization and the imperative for social justice for helping professionals and students. Helping professions such as social work, counseling, and community building can no longer be understood outside a global framework. While the very notion of helping professions entails a social justice perspective, the relationship between the effects of globalization and the requirements of social justice have been missing from the literature, education, and practice of these fields.

This book provides an understanding of the economic and social dimensions of globalization, shows how globalization increases the interdependence of nations, explores the particular risks and opportunities it presents, and examines how some aspects of globalization can exacerbate oppression and marginalization. There are particular explorations of the challenges globalization presents in Africa and South America, and a consideration of the special needs of children and families in the global context.

This is a necessary volume. Its distinguished contributors have various perspectives on globalization, but all write to inform and assist the work of those whose vocation is to help others.

William Roth is the Vincent O'Leary Professor of Social Welfare at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He is the author of several books, including Movement: A Memoir of Disability, Cancer, and the Holocaust and Assault on Social Policy.
Katharine Briar-Lawson is Dean and Professor of the School of Social Wel-fare at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her many books include Charting the Impacts of University-Child Welfare Collaboration and Evaluation Research in Child Welfare: Improving Outcomes Through University-Public Agency Partnerships.