Dancing to the beat of our own drum

Abstract

A review of the literature on indigenisation reveals that most African authors on this subject employ) a modernist critique and define indigenisation in terms of the 'irrelevance of Western social work to non-Western contexts'. While several African writers, including Osei-Hwedie, Baron and Mupediswa, have made an important and interesting contribution to the indigenisation debate, their work remains exploratory in that they have yet to articulate why Western social work is irrelevant (if indeed we know what Western social work is) and how African social work might differ. While introducing and probing questions relating to the development of indigenous social work practice in Africa, they have yet to situate this within contemporary social work literature, where several related theoretical trends are evident:

1. Social work is a Western invention and a product of modernity. The notion of progressive change fits this paradigm.
2. Indigenisation is postmodern. It questions the dominance of "social work as a Western invention" and seeks to relate it to local culture, history, and political, social, and economic development.
3. Globalisation is producing increasing pressures for a "universal social work". Through global influences, African culture is changing even while African writers are attempting to pin down.