Human rights as an opportunity and challenge for social work in a changing Norwegian welfare state

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses human rights as an opportunity and a challenge for social work in a Norwegian welfare state characterised by transformation and rising inequality. The relationship between social work and human rights is explored theoretically through the discussion of two different imperatives of distribution: sufficiency and equality. To develop an understanding of human rights for social work in a Norwegian and Nordic context, the article creates an illustrative framework that build on a basic continuum between sufficiency and equality (Dean, H. [2015]. Social rights and human welfare. Routledge; Moyn, S. [2018]. Not enough: Human Rights in an unequal world. Harvard University Press). The continuum is adapted by Bonnycastles (2011. Social justice along a continuum: A relational illustrative model. Social Service Review, 85(2), 267–295) Continuum of Relational Social Justice. The aim of the article is to articulate theoretically what it means to say that social work is a human rights profession in a Nordic and Norwegian welfare state in transformation and to consider the implication of such a perspective for the practice and research of social work. The article suggests that human rights must be seen in relation to the possibility of moving society closer to social equality.