Critical practice for challenging times: Social workers' engagement with community work

The contribution that social workers make to communities is integral to the principles and valuesof theprofessionbutis often 'hidden'andunacknowledged.Thispaperisanexploration of social workers' engagement with community work approaches in a range of settings in the Republic of Ireland, where managerialism and a climate of austerity pose particular challenges for social work practice. By exploring the findings of qualitative interviews with social work practitioners, the paper examines themes and issues that emerge in the context of their practice settings and considers how community work ideas are enacted in contemporary social work practice. These ideas challenge dominant discourses andemphasise a process of activeengagement withcommunities to counter inequality and injustice and seek change at both community and societal levels. The concept of 'creative activism' is developed to explore the idea of critical practice and the different formsof collective action that social workers undertake. Theuse of these ideas to strengthen the links between theory, research and practice on a postgraduate qualifying social work degree is discussed. The paper seeks to re-emphasise the place of community work within social work research, theory, practice and professional education.