“Same, same, but different”

Abstract

This chapter addresses the development of anti-racist practice, cultural competence and anti-oppressive practice and its meaning for social work practice and education. It examines the shift from the use in practice of the approaches of anti-racism through to that of cultural competence and anti-oppressive practice. It explores what might have been lost along the route from anti-racism to cultural competence and makes the case for the capacity for anti-oppressive practice to produce inclusive and challenging practice. Using the case of the tragic death Stephen Lawrence as central to demonstrating the damaging effects of racism at the personal, organisational and political levels in the chapter reasserts the dynamic nature of anti-oppressive practice. It shows how the use of the principles in this approach can shift the discourse from dichotomous ways of thinking to providing ways of addressing the complex interconnections and intersections which social difference brings to the lives of individuals and communities. It argues that anti-oppressive practice reaches beyond any approach which focuses only on one aspect of difference.