From Conservatism to Marxist tradition: Political paths of social work in social security

Abstract

This article discusses the influxes of the matrixes of thinking about the legitimation, consolidation and professionalization of social service in social security policy, with an emphasis on conservative thought and the Marxist tradition. It presents the foundations of conservative thinking, the way that it was absorbed by the profession, and the political rupture indicated by an approximation with the Marxist tradition. It concludes, based on a bibliographic review, that social service has been reinvented, accompanying social movements, while associating itself to political projects and has an active role in their consolidation.