Gender, Feminism and Social Work: Approximations and Conflicts in the History of the Profession

Abstract

This article looks at the growing needs found in situations that involve the issue of gender in the common intervention of social workers. It discusses the gap between social work and feminist studies, by sketching a historic parallel between the trajectories of the two fields. It criticizes the submission of the profession to andro-centric theories that exercise power and control in the production of
knowledge. It suggests that feminist theories and gender studies provide significant theoretical and methodological support for social work. The paper questions “how to guarantee equality while respecting differences,” and points to the principal critical areas that impede the development of women and mark gender inequality. It concludes that the adoption of a gender perspective in theoretical
mediations allows a new look at reality, based on women and with women, revolutionizing the order of power and submission.