FACULTY OF HEALTH AND SOCIETY | Seminar
Decolonising Social Work Education

Decolonising Social Work Education: Memory, Haunting and Critical Hope in the Nordics

Welcome to the Seminar in Social Work with Michael Wallengren-Lynch, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Malmö University, and Kris Clarke, Professor of Social Work, Department of Social Work, University of Helsinki

Abstract

In the seminar, Michael and Kris discuss their forthcoming book Decolonising Social Work Education in the Nordic Countries: A Perspective on Memory, Haunting and Critical Hope. The argument that the Nordic countries can be considered complicit in colonialism may be challenging, but we argue that the prevailing idea of ‘Nordic innocence’ and the general amnesia around this issue have significant implications for how social work is taught and experienced by students. So, how can we trouble the curriculum and find a way forward based on ideas of memory, haunting, and — most importantly — hope? This presentation aims to show how these concepts can help reveal the plurality of social work histories and futures.

Chairman

Kettil Nordesjö, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Malmö University

Practical information

You are welcome to participate in the seminar on site in Niagara. If you are an external participant, you need to register at kettil.nordesjo@mau.se no later than the day before the seminar, as access cards are required to enter the hall.

The seminar in social work is a seminar series arranged by the Department of Social Work (ISA). If you have any questions, please contact the seminar coordinator, Kettil Nordesjö.