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North/South CollaborationsNarda Razack aa School of Social Work, 2019 Kinsmen Building , York University , Toronto, Canada , M3J 1P3Published online: 13 Oct 2008.

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North/South Collaborations:Affecting Transnational Perspectives

for Social WorkNarda Razack

ABSTRACT. The age of late capitalism and transnationalism compelsprofessionals to rethink the boundaries of their theory and practice. Socialwork educators are responding to these changes both by paying attentionto ‘‘the international’’ in the curriculum, and by seeking to forge linksbetween the ‘‘developed’’ and the ‘‘developing’’ world. International so-cial work needs to be persistently examined to analyse the impacts ofdramatic shifts in power, technology, migration, trade and travel. Thisarticle addresses some of these issues through a reflective analysis of aNorth/South collaborative endeavour in which I was intimately involved.The collaboration illustrates how imperialism can pervade North/Southencounters and exchanges and helps to identify some obstacles which getin the way of achieving respectful alliances. The concept of transnational-ism, transnational feminism and a review of international social work areanalysed to understand the shifting contexts for working across bordersand within changing states. The intent is to identify some features of acritical collaborative approach towards international and anti-oppressivesocial work in a transnational age. [Article copies available for a fee from TheHaworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address:<getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: <http://www.haworthpressinc.com>]

KEYWORDS. Transnationalism, imperialism, international, femi-nism, pedagogy, collaborations

. . . notions such as coherent communities and unified identitieshave become inadequate, for no longer can the boundaries of

Narda Razack is Assistant Professor/Field Education Director, School of SocialWork, 2019 Kinsmen Building, York University, Toronto, Canada, M3J 1P3 (E-mail:nrazack@yorku.ca).

The author gratefully acknowledges the scholarly and collegial support of AmyRossiter, Pat Evans and Donna Jeffery. Special thanks to members of the conferenceplanning committees.

Journal of Progressive Human Services, Vol. 11(1) 2000E 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 71

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centre and periphery, home and abroad, self and other be drawnso distinctly. (Behad, 1993:41)

In this age of late capitalism, many professionals are finding itnecessary to rethink the boundaries of their theory and practice. Whatdoes it mean to teach and practice social work in an era when worldhegemonic power is increasing and there are accelerated flows ofcapital, labour and people across the globe? Many social work educa-tors are responding to these changes both by paying attention to ‘‘theinternational’’ in the curriculum, and by seeking to forge links be-tween the ‘‘developed’’ and the ‘‘developing’’ world. Some of theseresponses include special courses in ‘‘International Social Work,’’international field placements, faculty and student exchanges and arange of collaborative endeavours between schools of social work inthe North and in the South.

Increased activity on the international front has not necessarilymeant that older models of North/South encounters and eurocentrictheories emerging out of colonialism have given way to a more criticaland self reflective practice. Indeed, I will suggest that imperialismoften pervades these North/South encounters and exchanges. My con-cern in this paper, however, is not so much with some of the limita-tions of contemporary international social work practice as much as itis with identifying the obstacles to achieving a respectful North/Southcollaboration. In this article, I raise some of these issues and reflect onhow they emerged in a North/South collaboration in which I wasintimately involved. My intent is to identify some features of a criticalcollaborative approach towards international and anti-oppressive so-cial work in a transnational age.

I begin by using an example from my own experience to explorehow specific identities are produced in international collaborationsand to relate the perils and possibilities of negotiating non-imperialistpractices. Transnational feminist literature will be used to identifyways of engaging in North/South collaborations and as a way ofintroducing potential frameworks for understanding the globalimperative. I then describe the conditions of late capitalism whichaffect the practice of social work and discuss how transnationalism islocated within the context of these late capitalist formations. A reviewof international social work will provide the impetus for the discussionof a transnationalist framework to understand the shifting contexts forworking across borders and within changing states. I also discuss the

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challenges these shifts pose for curriculum development, and for indi-vidual social work educators and practitioners who seek to forge inter-national links.

‘‘POST’’ COLONIAL LOCATIONS:A NORTH/SOUTH DIALOGUE

For almost two years (1995-1997) I chaired an international com-mittee as a co-sponsor of the Bi-Annual Conference of Caribbean andInternational Social Work Educators. The majority of committeemembers were of Caribbean origin working in the diaspora. Weviewed our participation as an opportunity to forge transnationalworking relationships with our colleagues in the South. Many racial-ized social workers of Caribbean ancestry in the diaspora see them-selves as belonging to a group that is marginalized. People of colourare often lumped together and must struggle to be fully recognized.Some of us in academe also have an intense awareness of not belong-ing (Bannerji, 1991). Although educated similarly to our white col-leagues, from traditional Euro-American theoretical perspectives,there is a keen awareness among ourselves of our ‘‘post’’ colonialidentities and our ‘‘everyday’’ struggles within a racist and oppressivesociety. Consequently our narratives and efforts to re-create theoryand dialogue to fit a radical, anti-oppressive approach are at the heartof our research and practice.

In this section I will draw upon a personal experience of workingacross cultural and diasporic divides to illustrate the ongoing need tochallenge and disrupt our constructs of ‘‘home’’ and ‘‘away fromhome,’’ and to discuss the importance of transnationalism in North/South collaborations and social work world alliances. In doing so Iwant to acknowledge the subjective nature of these experiences andanalyses. I struggle to recognize and account for the education andexperience of my early formative years in Trinidad, my birth country,and Canada, the post colonial location in which I now reside. It is myhope that a reflective analyses of these collaborations will assist increating transnational practice approaches in order to work globally,across and within differences. Here I refer not only to us, the diasporicpopulation, but also to those in dominant positions.

It is also incumbent on me to recognize the inherent difficulties inworking together on shared projects and acknowledge personal and

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interpersonal struggles which accompany such ventures. Such delib-erations typically result in tensions and conflicts which can be espe-cially heightened when time and distance impede communication. Inaddition, individual personalities can also factor into deliberations andtensions. I will focus on the tendency to allow these struggles andtensions to remain as personal flaws in organizing, rather than makingspace to analyze our differences and commonalities and to recognizehow we are implicated in each others’ histories. The opportunity tostep back and recognize the forces of colonization, post colonial andterritorial imbalances in our collaborations was not possible at the timesince we were all caught up with the business of producing an interna-tional conference. It is my intent here to create space to criticallyanalyse and theorize from these varied contexts. The goal is to illus-trate the struggles we face on different soil and the deep and sustaininglegacies of colonization.

This subjective analysis of the conference collaborations is not tocreate a we/they dichotomy which always inscribes power to onegroup, but to seek ways to locate social issues and identity(re)construction using transnational lenses. This analysis has directlinks to how flows of information, knowledge, culture, power andlabour are viewed depending on location and history. People of colourin the North are lumped together and, because of our struggles withinhegemonic institutions and dominant codes which structure our prac-tices, we have not begun a dialogue of our group differences based onclass, skin colour, hybridity, history and race. Culture and identityissues for us are everyday struggles together with other simultaneousforces of oppression. Although the legacy of colonialism is still pres-ent in the Caribbean, issues of culture and identity are not as intenselyapparent ‘‘there’’ as they are for us in the North, where we do notconstitute the majority and do not hold political and economic power.We of Caribbean ancestry in the North recognize that we generallyhave more material privilege than our colleagues in the South, witheasier access to travel, technology and texts which add to our privi-leged locations. In working together, however, to mount an interna-tional conference, our work ethic, education, alliances, home/state,diasporic/birth locations emerged as being problematic in our profes-sional deliberations and in our personal lives. Seen within these con-texts, the goal to forge collaborative links with social work colleaguesin the Caribbean to build external supports and seek new knowledge

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and ways to effect theory and social work practice in our multicultur-ally diverse society was of primary importance. Given our precariousidentities within white hegemonic structures in the North, it is notsurprising that when we go to the South we take with us these anti-rac-ist concerns and everyday struggles. We want to be accepted uncondi-tionally by our colleagues, given our common context of being ‘‘fromthe Caribbean.’’ I think these factors led us to assume some measure ofcommonality and we did not pay sufficient attention to the fact that wewere Northerners, implicated in cultural hegemonic practices. Weshould have begun our collaborations by examining our differences,especially with reference to class, ethnicity and culture. It is crucial todiscuss and analyse our different entry points into such collaborativeendeavours.

On a conference planning trip to Trinidad (which co-incidentallyoccurred during the annual Carnival celebrations!), I had the opportu-nity to visit a calypso tent where I listened closely to the lyrics of thecalypsos which usually focus on local political and social issues. I wasinstantly hooked into the telling of racial tensions in the lyrics, be-tween the largely Indo and African Caribbean population, a tensionwhich was present during my twenty years of existence on my islandand which, although submerged within me during my residency inTrinidad, emerged as a strong marker of my identity after immigra-tion. Calypsos in Trinidad have a history that is wrapped in coloniza-tion. According to author Selwyn Ryan:

Calypso music was an essential part of the struggle against colo-nialism and oppression. . . . ways in which the common folkretold narratives or put a different spin on that which emanatedfrom the ruling elites. (Sunday Express, 1998:11)

Calypsos have always highlighted politics and social issues. Re-cently, the messages being sung have become increasingly aggressive,a move away from more subtle and suggestive forms. I noted that thetensions which resonate within me, as a marginalized woman in awhite dominant society in the North, were also being parallelled in theIndo-African population through the words being sung. Issues be-tween these two majority groups have historical significance andspeak to how identities and subjectivities continue to be formed in thewake of colonization, and are more pronounced with shifts of power.Indo-African relations are steeped in historical, political and socio-

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economic realities (Birbalsingh, 1993; Williams, 1964). Sensitivity tosuch issues is sharpened for us in the North since the psychologicaleffects of race and racism are more pronounced in the white domi-nated society.

The day after my visit to the calypso tent the conference planningcommittee met to decide themes and plenaries. ‘‘Culture and identi-ty,’’ a topic identified by the international committee as being signifi-cant to the conference, was suggested as a theme. The ‘‘local’’ aca-demics questioned their ability to participate on this panel since thiswas not a prinary issue. We grappled with the content of calypso andthe realities of local/social problems which illustrate how identitycontinues to be constructed and negotiated in the wake of imperialismand colonialism. I began to slowly understand the pedagogical andpractice differences in our approach and context for social work. Iperceived how our scripts in the North are continuously tinged withthe stains of neo and post colonialism and imperialistic traditions. Iwas physically situated in my birth country but my context andstruggles differed significantly from my ‘‘local’’ colleagues. Here iswhere our discussion needs to continue in order to understand howsocial work operates and within what particular frame. It is not up tous in the ‘North’ to make assumptions as to where our Southerncolleagues should be situated with respect to culture, identity andsocial work, but rather, to seek to understand the different forces ofcolonization and how we are all embedded within the western/Britishnarrative. While we know that our colleagues understand these colo-nial influences, our marginality and fears of being unauthentic in theNorth are not as intense for our colleagues in the South. At thatmoment in our collaborations we needed to deconstruct our experi-ences within hegemonic and imperialistic institutions. This discussionwould have been helpful to illustrate universal patriarchal norms, es-pecially within our respective academic institutions and the differentnature of our experiences according to our post colonial locations.

As we continued the dialogue at our meetings in the North, therewere several instances when the feedback we received from our col-leagues in the South contained a particular undercurrent of concernthat the North was taking over the proceedings. Indeed this feelingcontinued to be a major issue at the conference itself. Some of thetensions spoke to concrete dilemmas of structure and process. Forexample, the response for the call for papers from the international

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sector was far greater than the numbers in the Caribbean. We in theNorth encouraged students to submit papers and sought funding fortheir travel with the hope that they would be able to share with stu-dents in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, there were no Caribbean stu-dents presenting and therefore no opportunity for collaboration. Clear-ly our agendas, goals and objectives for participation in the conferencecollided with those of our colleagues in the South since we promotedthe conference differently. We tried to capture extensive participationin order to promote, engage and learn from social work academics andpractitioners in the Caribbean and also those who work in the diaspo-ra. On the other hand, our colleagues in the South may not have hadthe time to focus on this participation because of the daunting task ofbeing the host country. There was also a difference in terms of perfor-mance resulting from the Northern planning committee’s efforts tolimit costs. For example, in order to offset travel expenses we pur-chased items like name tags and conference pads at reduced prices.However these tags, commonly used in the North at conferences, weredeemed unsuitable and other tags were produced. This seeminglymundane moment was one of many which reflected larger issuesrelating to understandings of ‘‘home’’ and ‘‘away from home.’’

Efforts to communicate through telephone and fax were more pro-nounced for the North and trips to collaborate on the program, plena-ries, and keynote speaker were also the responsibility of the interna-tional committee. These issues produced tension since the distributionof resources for travel, use of technology, economic and inter-profes-sional working relationships were definitely more accessible andavailable in the North. The department at The University of the WestIndies felt the burden of raising funds to mount the conference andasked us several times for further financial commitment. There is greatdifficulty in negotiating grants to assist in producing conferenceswhich are not held in your own country. These budgetary concerns arerealistic and expected when producing any conference; thankfullythere was a small surplus of funds.

I include these examples to illustrate the difficulty and tensionswhich emerge in collaborative ventures involving populations withshared histories and painful legacies. As the chair I had to be theintermediator for the two teams and this role begged for diplomacyand tact. However, there were many troubling moments in theseNorth/South collaborations which affected the core of my being as a

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daughter of the soil in the South, occupying an outsider privilegedlocation in the North.

Back home at our committee meetings we, the displaced Northern-ers struggled to focus on our subject positions and became increasing-ly cautious and understanding of how flows of information and knowl-edge are received and analysed differently. At times during ourdiscussions in the North, there was some reference to our subtle andnot so subtle dominant and sometimes arrogant voices which creptinto our dialogue. It is important to analyse some of the more concretesituations stated above, and, more importantly, the subtle narrativeswhich included the ‘‘taking over’’ by the North.

At our international committee meetings we took the lead role inidentifying themes and producing the program outline and content.There are several apparent reasons for these decisive approaches interms of organizing and planning but, the underlying hegemonic atti-tude of the North in making decisions around topics, process andthemes, needs to be further interrogated. Spivak (1990) has elaboratedon these difficult situations:

Although I think that internationalism is one of those unifyingalibis for decolonization, it is still a strategy I admire or appreci-ate. It’s the kind of strategy where without destroying these ideasone also shows that they have historical fault lines, you know,secularism, nationalism, internationalism, culturalism. If onesees how these things develop historically and how it’s tied upwith the hegemony of, basically, Western Europe, one can seethat it’s not that the ideas are bad, but that the ideas are vulner-able, and the ideas are especially vulnerable if they’re thought ofas transcendental or universal. (p. 76)

During our discussions at our international committee meetings weassumed that culture and identity as a conference theme would havebeen readily accepted. Although we felt that there were numerousreasons why this theme is necessary in the South, it is not up to us inthe North to presume to know others’ positionality within their coun-try. We need to pay attention to the importance of transnational stud-ies. Spivak (1993) further states:

The point is to negotiate between the national, the global, and thehistorical as well as the contemporary diasporic. . . . Only then

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can we begin to put together the story of the development of acosmopolitanism that is global, gendered, and dynamic. . . . Letus learn and teach how to distinguish between ‘‘internal coloni-zation’’--the patterns of exploitation and domination of disenfran-chised groups. . . .--and the various different heritages or opera-tions of colonization in the rest of the world. (pp. 278-79)

In any collaborative venture there ought to be space to acknowledgeour histories and present realities. Some of my personal conflictsrelated to my desire to be accepted, promoted and celebrated as areturning professional with something to share, new ways to connectand work across transnational borders with my colleagues in theSouth. This desire now compels me to analyse these differences andunearth ways to forge transnational working relationships.

Sherene Razack (1998) discusses transnational feminist collabora-tions from her racialized location within the academy and analyses hersimultaneous locations of privilege and marginality. Her insight intohow racialized academics are viewed as native informants within theacademy and their different yet unequal subjectivities are critical inhelping to facilitate an understanding of a transnational context forcreating, understanding and sustaining North/South dialogue for so-cial working relationships and collaborations. She states:

Those of us originally from the South but based in the North canplay a unique role in the exercising of this overall material privi-lege and the domination that it buys. We can be used, . . . . asstand-ins for the South. Our class and regional advantages not-withstanding, we can go to conferences. . . . and represent‘women of colour,’ completely eliding the differences betweenus and poor women of colour in the North and in the South.Ultimately we end up being complicit with an agenda to showglobal national unity. . . . In this role, we undermine, for instance,Southern feminists who wish to underscore the economic andsocial devastation the North continues to wreak on the South.(p. 4-5)

We, the displaced Southerners in the North, are keenly aware of ourdifferential approaches to social work teaching and practice and con-tinue to struggle to fight the pull of racism, the labels of marginalityand third world scholar, being viewed as unauthentic and oftentimes

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tokenized. We ought to understand that our colleagues in the South arealso rooted within hegemonic, patriarchal and colonial traditions. Thecollaboration brought forward an urgency to map our differential ter-rains of knowledge acquisition and practice and view how our ongo-ing post colonial experiences continue to be shaped within white dom-inant structures. As our planning and conference committees consistedprimarily of women, a transnational feminist analysis is helpful tofurther contextualize our experiences and facilitate ways in which theperils and possibilities for working together could be theoreticallyconstructed. Here I want to highlight how power operates across bor-ders and within specific national contexts during collaborative ven-tures.

TRANSNATIONAL FEMINIST RESPONSES

Feminism has been extensively criticized for maintaining dogmaswhich follow a white middle class perspective (hooks 1994; Mohanty,Russo & Torres, 1991; Gunew & Yeatman, 1993). Global feminismshave entered the terrain of exclusive western feminism and have beenseriously challenged for not recognizing the diversity of women butrather paying attention to the universality of women. According toGrewal and Kaplan (1994) feminists are still adopting a ‘‘kind ofWestern cultural imperialism’’ (p. 17). Transnational feminist practic-es require a constant critique of our narratives and an ongoing need tosituate social issues within a global framework. This global frame-work is not for comparative purposes solely, but to gain understand-ings of how patriarchy, history, economy, and transnational alliancescontinue to shape women’s lives. Grewal and Kaplan (1994) empha-size that:

. . . . there is an imperative need to address the concerns ofwomen around the world in the historicized particularity of theirrelationship to multiple patriarchies as well as to internationaleconomic hegemonies. . . . and an acknowledgment that one’sprivileges in the world system are always linked to anotherwoman’s oppression or exploitation. (pp. 17, 19)

Social work’s history of caring has included an espoused compas-sion and empathy (Margolin, 1997). Sorely lacking, however, is asustained critique of hegemonic and imperial locations. Given our

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rapid changes in technology, trade, travel and migration, the notions ofcaring and compassion need to be problematized from historical andpresent locations. Also, the theory and practice of international socialwork has not fully managed to include a global context for analysingsocial issues like violence which primarily affect women. The differ-ential experiences of women, especially from marginalized groups,and their representation (or lack of) within the decision making struc-tures of a white dominant society must be addressed. The concept oftransnationalism helps us to understand differences and shifting con-texts for practice.

The Concept of Transnationalism

It is critical to examine and deconstruct the concept of transnation-alism in order to fully understand the impact in terms of North/Southcollaborations and international relations;

. . the significant transformation which has indeed been takingplace over the last two and a half decades. . . . is best understoodnot as a move from modernity to postmodernity, from industry toinformation, or from a national to global orientation but rather asa shift from multinational processes of capital accumulation tothe growing dominance of processes organized along transna-tional lines. (Rouse, 1995:356-357)

Transnationalism as an analytical perspective emerges from post-modernism and Marxist critiques of the 1980s. Whereas postmodern-ism focuses its inquiry on the construction and relationships of knowl-edge and power, Marxist analysis situates issues within the sphere ofglobal capitalism. Transnationalism, however, draws upon both analy-ses and problematizes how power is being organized as a result oftransnational systems of operations. According to Rouse (1995)transnationalism involves the speed in which a ‘‘single productionprocess’’ can be taken and redistributed across ten different locationsaround the world through synchronized interactions made possible byadvanced technology. These rapid changes also create substantial dis-locations of populations produced through the power invested in theselate capitalist endeavours in which we in the North are also heavilyimplicated. When these populations who are caught in the drift arriveas immigrants and refugees, we cannot continue to view them as poorunfortunates for whom we must help and provide services, but rather

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we must understand how we also produce them, and not continue toview ourselves as their saviours. It is this critical understanding thatthe social work curriculum needs to incorporate and teach in order toavoid replicating hegemony and power.

Seteney (1996) uses Rouses’s analysis of transnationalism and fo-cuses her attention on the ‘‘acceleration of goods, services people,money, information and ideas through and across national borders andcultural boundaries’’(p. 5). Internationalism and globalism share asimilar focus but transnationalism pays attention to the speed withwhich these changes are occurring and, more importantly, to the im-pacts that result. Some of these changes include the diminished capac-ity of states to maintain control and police their own borders; popula-tion dislocation with refugees and resettlement issues; and substantialincreases of people movement across the globe to states where theyare labelled as ‘‘other’’ and ‘‘different.’’

Guarnizo and Smith (1998) postulate that transnationalism is in theair and is also being analysed in a range of disciplines includinganthropology sociology, political science and geography. These au-thors argue that transnationalism is a valuable concept which can becritically applied to the examination of control and dominance whichare inherent ‘‘from above’’ (the North) through late capitalist forma-tions and globalization. Their proposal for adopting a mezzo approachfor transnational contexts for practice is important to examine for theprofession of social work.

Given the complexity of transnational processes, we think that afruitful approach for future transnational research would be tostart from a mezzo-structural vantage point, the point at whichinstitutions interact with structural and instrumental processes.This would facilitate incorporating into one’s analysis both theeffects of macrostructural processes and those generated by mi-cro-structures and practices. (Guarnizo & Smith, p. 25)

It is therefore critical to understand how differences are (re)pro-duced as a result of shifting contexts and identities (Bhavani & Phoe-nix, 1994). Transnational perspectives allow for understandings ofnew and constantly shifting terrains for social work practice and forongoing critical discussions around world issues.

Patricia Mohammed (1998) explores feminism and feminist identi-ty in the Caribbean by tracing historical patterns and abuses of coloni-

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zation. She discusses aspects of difference to illustrate how feminismis construed in the Caribbean through activism and academic dis-course and insists on historical mappings within such discourse tounderstand gender issues.

The narratives of misuses and abuses of colonization are tired oldones which will not be retired. The secrets and disguises of thepast will be constantly rendered up for public scrutiny by eachnew generation of Caribbean peoples, descendants of the myriadgroup of migrants, enslaved, bonded, coerced or encouraged towork and settle in these lands. The historical past will beconstantly interpreted by those who have adopted the region astheir permanent or temporary home, untangled by those whophysically live in the region, and debated by those who havemigrated out of the region. Both consciously and unconsciously,the interrogation of the past with the present is the process ofcreating continuity and tradition. (p. 8)

The conference collaborations highlighted post colonial experi-ences of women academics in the North and in the South. Patriarchy isevident within academic institutions and the professional nature ofsocial work is devalued especially when more positivistic approachesare still highly esteemed. In our efforts to collaborate and plan plena-ries and themes, we could have asked about gender issues in theacademy and intra group tensions on the island; they could have askedus about white/non-white relations in the North; and together, wemight even have begun a discussion of class/elitism among groups.Global struggles could have formed the basis for establishing alliancesand platforms for positive and collaborative work spaces.

Essed’s (1996) analysis of transnationalism is also critical to illus-trate the nature of transnationalism and global feminisms. She outlinesways of viewing women in a transnational context through an under-standing of the experiences of racially marginalized women in Europewhich mirror the experiences of similarly situated women in otherwhite dominated societies. She discusses three experiences whichtranscend national borders and which are useful for disrupting East/West and North/South collaborations. The first is that of being madethe Other, which relates to the process of being devalued within whitedominant society. The second experience includes the devaluing ofexperiences of racism and marginality. The third refers to the process

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toward political awareness which women of color seek through theglobal literature (p. 109). World hunger, poverty and HIV/AIDS areglobal social issues which demand a response that speaks to differentcontexts with respect to economy, culture and resources. The sameresponse is applicable to social ills like violence and patriarchy whichwomen all over the world experience. These problems are oftentimesviewed with paternalistic lenses that western women adopt when dis-cussing ‘‘Third World’’ issues and religion, e.g., ‘‘all Muslims areterrorists.’’ Women are fleeing harsh realities and are entering theterritory of the colonizer in huge numbers. These issues could havebeen introduced at our meetings and at the conference through panelsand round table discussions in order to understand our different reali-ties and to recognize varied socio-economic contexts.

Feminist social work concepts and principles must include the inter-sections common to women’s lives. Grewal and Kaplan (1994) pointto the need to link diverse feminist approaches without the productionof a master theory (p. 19). Understanding how privilege and power areimplicated in the experiences of others’ oppression are critical infeminist analyses. They call for ‘‘transnational solidarities’’ to under-stand social issues and disparate social locations. There is a need tounderstand where we speak from, for whom we speak, how we hearand listen to the other so that hegemonic behaviours will not be perpe-tuated. We must also work to understand which voices are sanctionedin the academy, in our agencies, in our practices and in our collabora-tions. Although our international committee members discussed someof the issues which affect North/South collaborations, we also becamecaught up with the goal of producing a conference according to ourviews and standards. Transnational perspectives are, therefore, helpfulto assist in understanding hegemonic influences and creating newways to understand political, global and local realities. These perspec-tives also assist us in analysing Northern hegemony as we consider thepowerful social, economic and historical influences of western soci-ety.

Transnationality as a framework for analysis of women’s issues iscritical in order to understand the impact of cultural flows of people,labour, knowledge and capital between nations and regions. Feministsocial work can continue to recognize differences, shifting identitiesand multiple subject positions in which educators, students and clientsare engaged to bring about change (Jones, 1997; Solas, 1994). A

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transnational framework can enhance social work and can beintroduced in the classroom to map historical locations and recognizedifferences. This context of knowing will help toward an understand-ing of global issues and our need to foster linkages, analyse issues andpromote transnational collaborations. Coalitions and solidarity groupscan be organized in the classroom to begin and, more importantlycontinue to interrogate our positions as teachers and practitioners (Ra-zack, 1999).

RESPONDING TO THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE:INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

Social work is recognized as an international profession which ispractised in unique ways all over the world. The theoretical founda-tions of international approaches, however, have not been seriouslyintegrated into the curriculum. As a result, our conceptual frameworkfor incorporating a global reality towards an understanding of socialissues continues to be perilously limited (Asamoah, Healy & Maya-das, 1997). According to Johnson (1996) current efforts toward theinclusion of international social work in the curriculum include: elec-tive courses; integrating international material across courses; provid-ing some international field placements; enroling students from othercountries; and student, practitioner and faculty exchanges (p. 189). Ata glance, these efforts suggest an additive response to a society that isa ‘‘global village.’’ Such meagre efforts sustain parochial thinking andprevent proper integration and understanding of the pervasiveness ofimperialism, neo-colonialism, prejudice and oppression.

Estes (1992) and Midgley (1990) trace the professional involve-ment of social work in the international community. Social workersinitially provided assistance with the settlement of refugees displacedduring World War II and have demonstrated a long-standing commit-ment to social justice issues and world peace. Social workers are alsoinvolved in international service organizations and social welfare ac-tivities. International social work has been profiled through journals(International Social Work, for example), federations and internationalassociation (International Federation of Social Welfare, InternationalAssociation of Schools of Social Work ), and through some texts andconferences. These forms, which are undoubtedly beneficial, havebeen inadequate to respond to oppressive forms of practice and they

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may continue to reflect the belief that it is ‘‘the west and the rest.’’These efforts have contributed to hegemonic approaches to problemidentification and intervention where self determination, liberalismand empowerment are stressed with limited efforts to challenge politi-cal structures and create new conceptual channels for social workwhich ‘‘emphasize collective as well as individual change’’ (hooks1994).

The recognition that there is a need for counter hegemonic struc-tures and alliances among nations is evident as a result of this in-creased trade, travel, global economy, technological advancement andrefugee resettlement (Hokenstad, Khinduka & Midgley 1992; Healy1988; Healy 1986; Sanders 1977). In an early article, Eaton (1973)discusses the need for professionals to broaden perspectives so that:

capacities will be enhanced if personal experiences with the con-sequences of local prejudices are seasoned with a more worldwide perspective about the general complexities of inter-grouprelations everywhere. (p. 57-58)

The above literature recognizes the need to have an internationaldimension to practice but lack analyses and critiques of imperialismand colonialism. In the absence of a dialectical exchange about howdifference is created, such prescriptions and engagement will continueto sustain imperialistic behaviour.

Sanders (1977) proposes international cross cultural educationwhile Healy (1988; 1986) describes current efforts towards interna-tional social work through curriculum changes. Healy’s (1988) re-search indicates that international issues are presented in courses in anisolated manner, separate from consideration of national issues. Thisdivisive approach serves to increase the gaps rather than approach thematerial through a comparative analysis, in order to respond to socialissues from a global framework. Healy (1988) advocates ‘‘educationfor global interdependence,’’ and describes what I see as a beginningtransnational perspective in her efforts to integrate international socialwork in the curriculum:

These statements express a desire to see the international compo-nent of the curriculum be more directly relevant to student inter-ests by linking the content to domestic practice and by expanding

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students’ concepts of their professional roles and responsibilities.(p. 225)

These links, however, need to be cognizant of imperialism andcontinued forms of oppression.

Midgley (1990) discusses the emergence of human services inmany ‘‘Third World’’ countries, the influences of colonialism in socialwork practice, and the replication of social service systems to re-semble those in large metropolitan areas (p. 296). Midgley (1997)further discusses the unilateral exchanges between industrialized anddeveloping nations which were initially welcomed. Many countriesonce colonized by Western nations, have gained independence and,while there are efforts to promote indigenous practices, traces of colo-nialism and imperialism linger because the flow of information aroundpractice and teaching is unidimensional, coming from industrial todeveloping nations. This form of post colonialism, unfortunately, isstill widespread because Eurocentric theories continue to dominateour classrooms and, more problematically, are exported to developingcountries. Asamoah, Healy and Mayadas (1997) describe three initia-tives towards achieving curriculum changes for students to operatefrom a global perspective. These are internationalizing the curriculum,revising the profession’s value base, and examining new frameworksfor the profession on a global scale (p. 393). These strategies need tobe seriously considered. In order to fulfil these objectives, it is neces-sary to begin from a non-imperialist, anti-racist and anti-oppressiveframework, otherwise the dominant Western frameworks will be repli-cated and sustained. Revisiting the flows of such exchanges and linksis crucial and transnationalism can facilitate the required awarenessand critical knowledge of how dominance is produced and organized.

Schools of Social Work across Canada have been focusing moreattention on international field placements. These placement experi-ences are designed to promote cross cultural learning and experiencesin order to enhance practice skills with diverse client groups. In listen-ing to discussions around the planning and organizing of such place-ments and engaging also in such international activity in my owndepartment, I perceive a denial of our continued efforts to rescue andsave the Other and of our complicity in our own privileged locations inthe North. Students and faculty have discussed their experiences ofculture shock and dissonance upon their return. While these behav-iours can in fact allow for new and shifting contexts for practice,

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deeper inquiry of our complicity in maintaining our privileged loca-tions in the North are not usually emphasized. This area of social workdeserves further inquiry into anti-oppressive theoretical and practiceimplications.

My observation is that most of the international social work litera-ture reflects the need to learn from, and about the other, but by andlarge maintains the status quo in terms of dominant relational forms.International social work is slowly building towards a new under-standing through an interdependent approach to work from globalperspectives. However there still appears to be a one-upmanship posi-tion where those with easier access to resources can study and learnfrom and about the other with little attempts to recognize ‘‘structuralpower relations that confer cultural and economic privileges’’ (Roman1993:72). There needs to be a persistent critique of colonialism anddominance in order to recognize how hegemonic structures are sus-tained. Further, we need to understand the way we maintain thesepower structures and begin to organize action-oriented responses.When we embark on projects in developing countries such as co-host-ing a conference, we need to acknowledge boundaries ‘‘not as mythicdifference that cannot be known or theorized but as the sites of histori-cized struggles’’ (Kaplan 1996:149). Social work educators, studentsand practitioners need to engage in such debates.

Social work has been dominated by structuralist assumptions andpositivist thought where there is an emphasis on wholeness rather thanon difference or divisions (Solas 1994:4-5). Traditional approaches insocial work such as local-global, centre-periphery, and micro-macro,can no longer fit the needs of people whose locations and identitiesreflect changes in political and economic structures. It is critical thatwe recognize fluidity in our particular perspectives and become moreattuned to ways in which we can link our knowledge, abilities, re-sources and capacities for understanding and working in changingcommunities. The transnational analysis for social work involves acritical knowledge and awareness of these global changes and a frame-work to analyse the impact on people’s lives. More specifically,transnational social work seeks to incorporate a pedagogy of responsi-bility to understand how capitalism is organized. This analysis mustincorporate a world view of problems (AIDS, resettlement, socialwelfare, violence, community work) and an understanding of the waysin which multiple locations and transnational alliances impact on prac-

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tice. Such a transnationalist perspective focuses on the interpenetra-tion of peoples across the world and problematizes the relationshipbetween boundaries and nations. This shift in thinking is critical tounderscore the static nature of previous understandings of society,culture and identity. More importantly the analysis is critical for theemergence of new perspectives for international collaborations and foreducation and practice.

CONCLUSION

Social work is a people profession and our theories, policies, proce-dures, pedagogy and practice relate directly to the issues people facein society, thus we must strive for continued understanding of politicaland economic global realities. Although there is some limited focus onadvocacy and social action in social work education, the reality is thatsocial workers generally do not feel equipped to incorporate discus-sions about larger political and global structures. Moreover, East/Westand North/South flows of people, culture, knowledge, trade, travel andcapital affect the way in which the state responds to social issues andwe need to maintain a constant critique of these responses. Transna-tionalism situates social problems and issues within the contexts oflate capitalist formations and technological advancements. Our North/South collaborations revealed the challenges and anguish we face withcultural displacement and diasporic identities.

The conference provided a forum for an interrogation of imperial-ism, colonization and post coloniality in a transnational age. There is aneed for ongoing analytic inquiry into the contexts for North/Southdialogue and the constructs for social work practice with diasporic andindigenous populations. The discussion has further implications forour understandings of feminism and feminist alliances and also theintricate nature of collaborations. Transnational perspectives under-score the shifting terrains for practice, the fluidity of identities in atechnological world and the changing nature of practice approaches.

The conference facilitated new ways of theorizing and contestingour multiple identities and subject locations and illustrates how we areembedded in transnational dominant systems. Efforts are underway toorganize a round table discussion at the next conference to examinethese North/South collaborations for pedagogy and practice. Transna-tional collaborations are critical in order for us to research and discuss

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how theories which fit a multicultural diverse population can beintroduced without sustaining the status quo of dominance and mar-ginality. These discussions need to be actively pursued as we havemuch to learn from each other. The strong Caribbean population inlarge urban centres in the North demand new knowledge and non-Eu-rocentric, non-imperialistic and non-hegemonic centres. We desper-ately need expertise from non-western contexts. Continued collabora-tion with our colleagues in the South is therefore critical and we muststrive to maintain such ties in order to work together to benefit ourclients and our profession.

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