Social work as protest: conversations with selected first black social work women in South Africa

Abstract

Radical and critical social work has existed since the start of the profession. Still, the history of social work education in South Africa does not put prominence on black women social workers like Ellen Kuzwayo and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, among others. Remarkably, these women also participated in the national women’s protest against the pass laws in 1956 by the apartheid government. The authors espouse radical perspectives, such as feminist, human rights and social justice frameworks, embedded in an Afro-sensed approach. Expressly, the authors argue that, in its very nature, social work is protest, which can be used to restore ravaged history, as well as to influence the teaching and practice of social work.