From surface to deep diversity

Social Work Department, School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh

From surface to deep diversity – Re-imagining social work for decolonial futures.

As part of our Social Work Department Annual Lecture for this year's Black History Month, join us for an exciting online event that explores the re-imagining of social work in the context of decolonial futures. Black History Month was established in 1926 to uncover and celebrate the distorted and erased histories of Black people in the face of the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. Not only does this period in history represent the exploitation, enslavement and in many cases destruction of human life, it also manifested an assault on all kinds of cultural and bio-diversity. The concept of diversity goes beyond what meets the eye; it encompasses a deep understanding of how history, culture, power and materiality impact all our lives. This presentation will argue that to truly appreciate diversity, we must move beyond surface-level observations and engage with individuals and communities in their actuality, which means addressing their everyday struggles against oppression in the co-production of solutions. To achieve this, as well as drawing on theory, research and experience, social workers must develop a critical capacity for listening to and learning from the diversity of people, be they colleagues, service users or communities. Taken together this requires nothing less than a complete reimagining of social work, from its present neoliberalism. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of this important conversation!P﻿lease note that this lecture may be recorded.This lecture will be conducted online via Zoom. Registered attendees will receive the Zoom link, Meeting ID and access passcode on the day of the seminar via the email address used to register. Please ensure you check your emails!

A﻿bout the Speaker<a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/services/chaplaincy/about_us/team/gurnam/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Dr Gurnam Singh</a> is an activist researcher, writer, educator, columnist and broadcast journalist. His work is dedicated to uncovering and disrupting systems and mechanisms of power and oppression, especially through harnessing the transformative capacity of critical educational pedagogies. Currently, he is an Hon Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and a Visiting Fellow in Race and Education at the University of Arts, London. He is also a presenter on the Punjab Broadcasting Channel (PBC) and a columnist for the online magazine, Asia Samachar. In 2005 he completed a PhD at the University of Warwick focussing on anti-racist social work. In 2009 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) for his work on critical pedagogy and higher education, and in 2018 was accepted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA). He has published 4 books, over 40 peer review papers/chapters/review articles and 200 keynote conference papers on a wide range of issues, including, race, racism, anti-racism, diversity, decolonisation, ethics, higher education and social work. Currently, his work focuses on the decolonisation of higher education, with a particular focus on the opportunities and dangers associated with the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI).Recent social work related publications: <ul><li>Singh, G. (2023) Decolonisation, whiteness, and anti-racist social work. In The Routledge Handbook of International Critical Social Work (pp. 343-357). Routledge. </li><li>Hadwin, D., Gizani, H., Singh, G (2023) Working with Unaccompanied Refugee Minors, Chapter 19, in, J, Parker (ed) 2nd Edition. Introducing Social Work. London, Sage/Learning Matters. </li><li>Singh, G (2021) Anti-racist Social Work and the Present Moment, in, Outlanders: Hidden Narratives from Social Workers of Colour from Black and Other Global Majority Communities by Wayne Reid and Siobhan Maclean (eds). Staffordshire, Kirwin MacLean Associates. </li><li>Singh, G and Masocha, S (Eds) (2020) Anti-Racist Social Work: International Perspectives. London, Palgrave Macmillan. </li><li>Hadwin, D., Singh, G., and Cowden, S (2020) Working with Unaccompanied Minors, Chapter 17, in J, Parker and S. A., Crabtree (Eds) Human Growth and Development in Children and Young People: Theoretical and Practice Perspectives (Volume I). Bristol, Policy Press. </li><li>Singh, G (2019) Anti-oppressive Social Work, Neoliberalism and Neoeugenics, in, M, Lavalette and I Ferguson, What is the future of social work?: Austerity, welfare transformations and alternative futures. Bristol, Policy Press.</li></ul>

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From surface to deep diversity

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