Ubuntu Philosophy and Decolonising Social Work Fields of Practice in Africa (Indigenous and Environmental Social Work)

This book addresses a recurrent gap in social work literature by examining Ubuntu as an Indigenous African philosophy that informs social work beyond the largely residual and individualistic conceptualisation of social work that currently prevails in many contexts. Owing to the lack of social work theories, models and generally, literature that is locally and contextually relevant, most social work lecturers based in African context, struggle to access learning materials and texts that centre local indigenous voices and worldviews.
It is within this context that the ubuntu philosophy has gained traction. There is increasing consensus that Ubuntu as an African philosophy and way of life, has the potential to be used as a decolonising framework for social work education and practice. Theorising from Ubuntu can influence and be the foundation for African social work theory and knowledge, social work values and ethics, social work research and policy, and Ubuntu informing different fields of social work practice like social work with older people, children and young people, ubuntu and poverty alleviation, ubuntu and the environment, among others.
Drawing together social workers engaged in education, research, policy, practice, to theorise Ubuntu and its tenets, philosophies, and values, this book shows how it can be a foundation for a decolonised, more relevant social work education and practice in African contexts.

Janestic Mwende Twikirize (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Makerere University, Uganda. She holds a PhD in Social Work and Social Development. Dr Twikirize served as the Vice President of the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA) and as a board member of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) from 2012 to 2018. Her research with local communities and at the same time her international exposure to various philosophies and discourses in social development led her to pick interest in indigenisation and decoloniality of education and practice.

Sharlotte Tusasiirwe (PhD) is an Indigenous African tracing her ancestry from the Basingo clan of Banyankore/Bakiiga/Bahororo tribe of Western Uganda, East of Africa. Sharlotte has been researching and publishing in the area of decolonising social work and she is passionate about seeing culturally appropriate and respectful social work around the world. She is currently a social work lecturer at Western Sydney University, and she is interested in areas of Community-led initiatives and development; African spirituality; Indigenous epistemologies; international social work, among others.

Rugare Mugumbate (PhD) is a Zimbabwean social worker who trained at the School of Social Work, University of Zimbabwe and worked at the Epilepsy Support Foundation and the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) in Zimbabwe between 2003 and 2015. Among other study areas, his work centers on valuing and using African knowledge such as Ubuntu philosophy in teaching, learning, practice, and research. Presently, he is a lecturer in the School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Australia and a Senior Research Associate, Department of Social Work & Community Development, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.