A philosophical critique of social work discipline: A foucauldian inquiry

In this study, the social work discipline has been examined critically by a philosophical analysis with the help of Foucauldian method. Social work is generally referred as a human rights issue and defined as a discipline that provides solutions to social problems by supporting the empowerment and liberation of people. However, in today's neo-liberal system, the increase and deepening of human problems bring about some critical views concerning on the problem-solving capacity of social work. In this thesis, the social work discipline has been reconsidered from a historical, critical and relational perspective and it is aimed to analyze the relationship between the social work discipline and power on a philosophical level. Foucault's theoretical explanations on the concept of power and how he analyzes the knowledge-power relationship is the main focus of the study. The concept of power has been problematized in many ways by Michel Foucault via an alternative method to classical epistemology and ontology. Taking the concept in relation to various fields throughout the pre-modern and modern period, Foucault's emphasis on the unity of knowledge and power makes it possible to consider the historical development of scientific disciplines through a critical eye and at the same time constructive perspective. Foucault, who analyzes the knowledge-power relationship from psychiatry to forensic sciences, in his book The Birth of Biopolitics claims that modern power reconstructs itself over the problem of poverty. In order to form a philosophical/historical method of this study, Foucault's works, i.e., History of Madness, Birth of Prison and Birth of Biopolitics has been examined. It has been revealed and posited that the power fields that Foucault examines in these works, which control people through various methods, discipline them and determine their subjectivity, are also the same for the social work discipline. Social work contributes to the production of a truth regime over the problem of poverty. As a result, it is found that the social work discipline not only functions as solving human problems but also serves as a field of power as the same way as Foucaut theorized for other scientific disciplines.