Social Work in the face of the advance of right-wing populism

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to problematize the work of social work in the heat of the advance of right-wing populisms in Latin America. Returning to Gramsci's theory of hegemony as an analytical tool, it proposes a journey through social work as a sounding board for the ideological project of the elites. From there, it delves into what the article calls the generating professional as the antithesis of the reproducing professional, offering lines of work for this critical social work. The exercise is the result of a critical hermeneutic work, reviewing texts and literature in the context of the discipline and the social sciences. It aims to go beyond diagnostic readings, delivering vanishing points in direct intervention. All this in a context of enormous risks and uncertainties for the groups with which Social Work is linked, due to the advance of populist governments and the installation of a common sense of individualizing and meritocratic character.