Vivek Sharma, New Delhi : The book “Introduction to Social Work’' recently published by SAGE India is the first ever textbook on social work by an international publisher in last over eight decades in India. Since the initiation of social work program in India by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai by an American missionary during the British colonial period in the year 1936, no Indian academician across ideological affiliations has been able to get published an international standard textbook on social work till date. This book has been brought by an Indian academician Dr. Bishnu Mohan Dash, who is one of the Founder Member and General Secretary of Bharatiya Samaj Karya Parishad (BSKP), an association of social work academicians in India engaged in spearheading the movement for Indianisation/ Bharatiyakaran of social work education in the country.
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| Siddheshwar Shukla, Senior Journalist |
The
book is divided into four sections consisting of 26 Chapters, contributed by
highly experienced Indian social work academicians from various reputed
universities/ institutes of India and Nigeria (Africa). Till date the reading lists and the essential references used by the
students of social work at the undergraduate and post graduate level are mostly
western in origin written by American and European authors. The books authored by European and
American academicians are based on the needs and requirements of the Western
society. Obviously, there is almost no place in those books for Indian
experiences in the field of social work. Therefore, the students who refer to
those text books as their study materials get well versed in Western
perspectives of social work but are cut off from Indian roots and become
Eurocentric scholars. The book, besides keeping the global significance of
various social work theories and practices also includes indigenous social work
thinkers, theories, and practices to make it relevant for Indian ambiance. The Professional imperialism and supremacism of western literature has
always been referred by the students due to the dearth of literature. The
dearth of Indian indigenous social work literature is always being debated in
various academic forums.
The book is an important path
breaking work in the history of Social work education in India . The book will
be one of the most essential resources for the students of social work at the Bachelors
and Masters’ level in various universities offering social work courses. Dr. Dash is presently Associate Professor and
Discipline Coordinator, Discipline of Rural Development, Indira Gandhi National
Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. Dr Dash is also the only recipient of Delhi
University Excellence Award for teacher from colleges in social work, till
date. He has also received the Best Teacher award from Govt of Delhi.
The book ‘Introduction to Social Work” provides
a broad overview of social work profession and presents both historical
perspective on the development of social work in India as well as the current social work
practice paradigms, with special consideration of contemporary social issues.
The book discusses the values, ethics, principles, scope and various approaches
to social work which are essential to understand the profession from Indian perspectives. Besides,
the Indian philosophy, values, ethics have been described extensively. It critically
explores the key concepts of social work in the Indian context and includes
important key terms, information boxes and critical thinking questions to help
students apply concepts to practice.
Closely aligned with the UGC curriculum, the
text goes beyond general coverage to explore the themes of social reform,
social justice, social security, social development, social legislations, and
social welfare. This textbook will serve as a valuable companion for
undergraduate and postgraduate students of social work, and UGC NET and civil
services aspirants.
Within a few weeks, the book has
received accolades from academicians across universities in India and abroad.
On 18th August, the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth
Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt of India organized a
panel discussion by inviting teachers from various Universities. Similarly
other panel discussions were held on 29th August 2022 at Bhopal School of
Social Sciences and on 10th September, 2022 by Ganpat University,
Gujurat. The response of academic fraternity is highly
encouraging. Several requests have come for hosting panel discussions. Many other universities are
showing interest to organize panel discussions on the book as it is the first
such textbook on social work written by an Indian Academician by Sage
publishing house.
Previous Book: Indian Social Work by Routledge, Taylor and Francis (London & New York)
Dr Dash with other scholars is also credited for publishing the co-authored book titled ‘Indian Social Work (2021)” by Routledge, Taylor and Francis (London & New York) which has globally been referred as one of the path-breaking work in the history of social work education in India. This is the first ever book of international standard which familiarizes the world with Indian perspective of social work. The book “Indian Social Work” highlights the urgency of reorientation of social work knowledge and practices in India by blending Indian pluralistic cultural practices into mainstream social work practice. The lead Chapter of the book is written by Shri. Mukul Kanitkar, National Organizing Secretary, Bharatiya Shikhan Mandal, Nagpur. Furthermore, the book emphasizes on contextualization of India’s cultural knowledge as per the needs of the 21st century world community. The book is unique in the sense that it highlights India’s voluntary social work practice, social reform, and social service culture for the wellness of an individual, family, society, and the globe and is historical contribution in the discipline of social work in India.
Dr. Dash has also published a co-authored a book ‘Field Work Training in Social Work”, published by Routledge, Taylor and Francis. Dr Dash says that development of Indic literature is very essential for decolonization and Indianisation of social work education as well as resurgence of social work education in India. So, he has published extensively from leading Indian publishing houses including Concept, Atlantic and Discovery.
He has written extensively on Nanaji Deshmukh, social work in India, new frontiers of social work education and practice etc. In his publications, he used to document Indic models of social work practice and interventions that is best suited and relevant for Indian social workers. In his Co-authored Book” “Nanaji Deshmukh: An epitome of Indian Social Work”, Dr. Dash has made a modest attempt to present the contributions made by Nanaji Deshmukh in the field of social work and rural development. The unique Chitrakoot model of Nanaji Deshmukh and his initiatives in the fields of community development, health care, education, agriculture, environment and sustainable development have been lucidly discussed in the book. Shri Mukul Kanitkar, the leading Indian Educational thinker has also contributed the lead chapter in this book. The Indian concept and meaning of Sewa and the importance of theory of integral humanism in social work offer a new worldview to develop universal humanism, accomplish social cohesiveness, bring harmony in the society, and to ensure holistic development through community participation. This book provides a scope for developing an indigenous social work approaches and intervention strategies. Consequently, the Chitrakoot experiment of Nanaji has been added in the Master of Social Work curriculum in many universities and subsequently few M. Phil. and Ph.D. works were also conducted on Nanaji Deshmukh.
In his co-authored book, “Social Work in India: Indigenous approaches and models” attempts has been made to decolonize the colonial legacy and professional imperialism in Social Work Education. Besides, various (Swadeshi) indigenous perspectives and approaches relevant for social work education have been thoroughly presented. The book has tries to incorporate the significant contributions and developmental models propounded by the great Indian thinkers particularly Swami Vivekananda, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, and Nanaji Deshmukh, which is highly relevant in the reconstruction of Indian Society.
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