Amid the unprecedented financial crisis in Greece, which began unfolding in 2010, a major radical reform of the welfare state was implemented. This reform was presented, by both mainstream academics and politicians, as a ‘painful yet necessary’ step due to the broader extraordinary sociopolitical circumstances that can only be compared to a ‘state of emergency’. In this article we argue that, despite the dominant rhetoric about the urgency of these policies, they should be seen as a continuation and further acceleration of previous neoliberal changes in the welfare state. While showing the continuity of the structural reforms, we place particular emphasis on the devastating impact these have had on both social services and service users. In doing so, we use the experiences of frontline social workers who have been at the epicentre of the ongoing reforms, directly witnessing their catastrophic impact. In the light of these overwhelming experiences, Greek social workers have started challenging the orthodoxies of ‘traditional’ social work and engaged with an exploration of alternative forms of social work theory and practice (reconceptualisation).

Greece has been an emblematic case for the European Union's implementation of anti-immigration securitisation and externalisation. These policies have been translated into non-tolerance and intimidation towards certain populations, which, in turn, has resulted in more and more violent forms of the rejection of migration, which has become mainstream. Parallel to this are racist attacks, pogroms and acts of violence committed by neo-Nazi groups. On the other hand, a growing anti-racist movement has emerged in the form of human rights defence and solidarity networks and anti-racist resistance. This article aims to show the ways in which the rise of situations of rejection and racism have come to challenge the work of social workers and to understand how social work can be rearticulated with regard to its core values of social change and social justice, the antithesis of the profession's traditional 'neutrality' and 'culture of silence'.

Since 2015, social workers are in the 'front-line' (Jones, 2001) of the so-called refugee 'crisis', facing a series of difficulties in helping effectively their users through a context of austerity, antiimmigration policies, racism and under-resourced social services. Whilst Greece is one of the 'entrance' countries in Europe, to the best of our knowledge,there is no current research in social work practice with refugees. This study was a self-funded, quantitative research project carried out from June to August 2018. The main research questions explored the professionals' profile and working conditions, the social work practice with refugees and the connection between social work and the anti-racist movement. This paper will critically discuss part of the findings in relation to: (1) the profile of front-line professionals, (2) the organisations' profile and (3) their working conditions. The findings identify a series of challenges and difficulties for front-line professionals in order to respond to the refugee population'surgent and uncovered needs. Placing the findings within the wider neoliberal context of repressive European policies, this paper argues that both refugees and professionals are directly affected by the politics of welfare as well as antiimmigration policies.These policies systematically violate human rights, rendering the role of social work crucial in the struggle for social justice.

After the eruption of the crisis and the imposition of strict austerity measures, a number of grassroots solidarity initiatives emerged in Greece. The growth of Solidarity Clinics (SCs) emerged as an answer to the lack of primary health care for around 2.5 million people who were excluded from the national health system. This article presents and discusses the findings of a research project conducted from May 2014 to September 2014 in Greece. The aim and profile of SCs as well as the involvement of social workers in the initiatives are presented and discussed within the framework of the role of social work.

Since the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015–2016, the hostile EU migration policies, the restricted access of refugees to welfare and neoliberalism have put social work in a rather difficult position. This self-funded quantitative research was carried out from June to August 2018 in Greece, addressing social workers working with refugees in various organizations, such as NGOs, public institutions and EU-funded projects. This article will present and discuss social work’s day-to-day practice with refugees and the social workers’ role as human rights defenders and claimants of social justice in the context of systematic violation of the human rights of refugees.