This thesis is about decolonisation as a process that must be pursued in Uganda to accelerate and progress the creation of culturally appropriate and locally responsive social work profession. The thesis synthesises stories of people at the forefront of doing social work: 10 older women living and practicing Obuntu-social work, three community workers and nine policy makers. Their stories were collected according to an indigenous relational methodology embedded in Obuntu framework. The older women's stories were about braving a lifetime of structural disadvantages where their work and indigenous knowledges were devalued, particularly in the formal sector. They were not passive victims but were supporting each other by drawing on indigenous knowledge, practices and ways of mutual helping. The community workers were caught in the middle, seeing themselves as advocates of communities but also serving in a colonial bureaucracy originally established to exclude and exploit rather than serve the masses/communities. The policy makers had local knowledge and experience but because they relied predominantly on donors/international partners to fund most of the interventions, the funders set the agenda and therefore reinforced colonialist practice. This thesis points towards three important directions for decolonising social work in Uganda: mourning the results of ongoing colonising practices manifested through the domination of western models of helping, through the English language and through expatriates; recovery and rediscovery of indigenous models of helping that have remained critical for collective survival of communities; and dreaming about a wide range of possibilities that recovery of Obuntu philosophies brings to social work education and practice. Genuine decolonisation must precede indigenisation of social work in Uganda and social workers in academia and practice must work with and learn from local people in the communities who have remained custodians of culture.
Date of Award | 2019 |
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Original language | English |
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- social service
- social workers
- older women
- social aspects
- decolonization
- Uganda
Stories from the margins to the centre : decolonising social work based on experiences of older women and social workers in Uganda
Tusasiirwe, S. (Author). 2019
Western Sydney University thesis: Doctoral thesis