Courageous ethnographers or agents of the state : challenges for social work

Tensions arise for social workers when confronted with wicked policies, particularly in paving their way through dual loyalty issues and risk paradigms. By merging radical, critical and human rights perspectives and drawing on their practice ethnography, social workers can become confident advocates in challenging dominant discourses and contributing to social change. In this article, illustrative case studies are provided in the fields of social work with Indigenous peoples, asylum seekers, people living in poverty and children. Although focusing specifically on the Australian context, the article provides leads for political engagement and moral courage.