Thinking and acting globally and locally: Developing transnational social work practices in Belgium

Transnational social work: Challenging and crossing borders and boundaries

“…It can also refer to the involvement in translocal cooperation and networking (Hunter et al, 2010) or to the transformation of a local organisation into a transnational operating structure (Withaeckx et al, 2017). An analysis of different formal social work organisations by degree of transnationality allows to identify different approaches among these organisations to border-crossing practises, clients and issues.…”

“…Second, it is equally important to look at the degree of institutionalisation of transnationality underlying a given intervention. In some cases, transnationally oriented initiatives are pursued on the initiative of an individual social worker or only on an occasional basis, whilst in other cases they correspond to an institutionalised practice Withaeckx et al, 2017).…”

“…An exclusive 'local' and 'sedentary' (Malkki, 1992) focus would be contrary to several clients' mobile and/or transnational life and/or to the border-crossing nature of the themes social workers encounter (Boccagni, 2015;Withaeckx et al, 2017). This article gives an overview of the way this transnational perspective has been developed within social work and aims to set a research agenda for a transnational social work that recognises and explores, as well as challenges and crosses borders and boundaries.…”

Conceptualising Social Work through the Lens of Transnationalism: <i>Challenges and Ways Ahead</i>

“…This can, for instance, involve questions about parents, siblings, and other significant others outside of the host country, people that the child sometimes is in continuous contact with. This low degree of transnationalism has, in an empirical study in Belgium, been called 'transnational awareness' among social workers (Schrooten et al 2016;Withaeckx, Schrooten & Geldof 2017). An intermediate degree of transnationalism refers to, for instance, situations in which significant others in places outside the host country are involved in the interventions, for instance via Skype and other information and communication tools (ICT).…”

“…Finally, a strong degree of transnationalism refers to situations in which the child, typically together with a social worker or any other social service provider, goes to meet with significant others in places outside the host country. Higher degrees of transnationalism among social workers have, in contrast to 'transnational awareness', been described as situations in which the social worker is a 'transnational player' (Withaeckx, Schrooten & Geldof 2017). These approaches, however, have higher thresholds due to costs, practical and legal circumstances, time, and sometimes language barriers (for empirical examples collected in Sweden, see Melander 2015).…”