Publication details
Theorizing the power of social work policy entrepreneurs
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Contemporary postcolonial and human rights discourse shape the general understanding of democratic consolidation of highly developed countries, in which political actors routinely participate in policy-making and construct needed policies. In my contribution, I focus on the particular group of the political actors: social work policy entrepreneurs – social workers, who no longer hold a position of mere policy deliverers but actively enter policy arenas and advocate the interests of their clients, disadvantaged people. Social work policy entrepreneurs influence formal ways of solving recognized problems; thus, there is the assumption that they are actively involved in policy arenas and effectively engaged in policy-making. Although current research on the policy practice of social work policy entrepreneurs reveals an array of inspiring ways to realize policy practice in diverse nation-states, one crucial aspect of policy engagement is overlooked. This crucial aspect is power. Power is an omnipresent element that determines the success or failure of social work policy entrepreneurs and other policy actors promoting policy changes. Since being a vague term, power is often mistaken or conflated with force, authority, influence, knowledge, or domination over resources. In terms of power, there is a gap in policy practice research: the lack of appropriate theorizing of power in policy practice. In my contribution, I will answer the question, "What is power, and how can it be utilized for research on policy engagement of social workers?" Inspired by the work of Arendt, Carstensen and Schmidt, Dahl, Latour, Lukes, Popitz, Weber, and Whitehead, I will conceptualize power as a highly contextual, situational, and relational aspect of competition among policy actors, including social workers, while promoting their values or interests in policy arenas. In addition, driven by institutional theory and the concept of governance, I will describe the institutional map of social work practice and the possible positioning of social workers in it. It helps me delineate policy arenas and horizontal, vertical, and diagonal power relations among policy actors in policy-making. My contribution offers an innovative insight that can be utilized for future research on the policy engagement of diverse policy actors in particular institutional settings. |