Social Work in Slovenia and Yugoslavia

The Human Face of Socialism
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-4473-7458-9
Verlag: Bristol University Press

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Research in Social Work

What did social work look like under European state socialism – and what can this history teach us today? Darja Zaviršek, the leading scholar on the history of social work in Slovenia and the former socialist countries, uncovers how the profession developed between 1945 and 1990.

Drawing on a unique political, social and ideological landscape, this book traces the evolution of social work across Yugoslavia. It challenges simplistic ideological narratives on both sides of the Iron Curtain and offers a nuanced understanding of social work as both a vehicle of state control and a site of empowerment – particularly for women.

Providing critical insight into how ideology, gender and welfare intersected in socialist Europe, this book invites reflection on how these histories continue to shape contemporary social work practice and values.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Zaviršek, Darja

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Fragen & Probleme

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

1. The Noise of History: The Historiography of Social Work in Yugoslavia and Slovenia

2. The Ruptures and Continuities of “Social Work” on the Horizon

3. Finally Peace: Women’s Labour Heroism and the Socialist Welfare System in the Making

4. Socialist Social Policy: “From Each According to His Abilities, to Each According to His Needs”

5. Social Work Education in Socialist Yugoslavia: Opening of the Schools

6. Forgotten Pioneers: A High-Level Political Official, a Partisan Teacher, and a Communist Intellectual

7. Social Work Professional Subjectivity: Social Workers as Societal Agents

8. Socialist Social Work Is the Realisation of the Goals of Social Policy

9. Against the Method: “The Door to Life Had Not Really Been Fully Opened”

10. Child Protection and the Traces of Makarenko's Children's Collective in Yugoslavia

11. Coercive Care: Spatial Segregation, Education and Employment of People with Disabilities

Conclusions: The Uniqueness of the Findings in Data and Approaches

Über Autor(innen)

Zaviršek, Darja
Darja Zaviršek is Professor of Social Work and the Chair of the Department of Social Justice and Inclusion and the founder of the Center for the Study of the History of Social Work in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Ljubljana.