Defining Words

In this particular clip the contestant is asked to spell out father but he spells out mother instead. For him his mother was both a mother and a father to him. Kovach emphasizes that the “European concept of legitimate thinking, what is written has an importance that is denied in the spoken (Kovach, 2005).” What is written has importance because it is embedded in our institutions, laws, policies, constitutions, educational systems, religious structures etc. Kovach also states that the language we use shapes the way we think (Kovach, 2005). Language is powerful, and can be oppressive or emancipatory in nature depending on how it is used. The dominant society uses language to silence the voices of the majority so how as critical social workers can we give a voice to the marginalized groups? Foucault argues that our aim as critical social workers is “not to destroy but to redefine and reorient what we do and what we know, it is a commitment to transformation (Foucault, 1999).” As a critical social worker if I want to redefine what I am doing, I must look to historical contexts to see what has been defined for me in the past, and where this knowledge came from. I must be aware of the tools of oppression used to indoctrinate me with this knowledge. I also must be willing to create new knowledge. In an agency format this may be looking at an agency mandate or policy document and using new language that is not oppressive. It would also be equally important to look at the histories of my clients to see what role discourse has played in oppressing them. As Foucault says “we need to take the stance that it is urgently needed to reflect on the foundations of our profession rather than rearranging furniture (Foucault, 1999.” We need to learn about the history of social work practice, and oppression that social work practice has inflicted and continues to inflicted. We also need to learn about oppressions faced by the marginalized groups we serve. We also have to reflect on the power imbalances we have with the groups we serve. Foucault discusses “archaeological work” and how in this particular work layers are re-arranged, and this makes visible what we could not see before (Foucault, 1999). It is our duty as critical social workers to make these elements visible. Foucault also borrows from Nietzsche in his idea of the “Genealogy of Morals” which offers a way for social workers to “retrace specific ways of doing and knowing to illuminate how operating assumptions have been clustered together and changed overtime” and acted as turning points to our profession (Foucault, 1999). It is important to retrace how social workers have practiced in the past and how we know what we know. It will help us to create transformation within practice and lead to social change. Audre Lorde notes it doesn't help to use the "master's tools to dismantle the master's house." To dismantle the house we must use new language, name oppression for what it is, and resist it in all ways in which it comes into our lives. We cannot ignore the importance that language plays on oppression. In thinking about Aboriginal populations of Canada one can see the idea of words very clearly. Aboriginals were forced to sign treaties in language they never understood, they were then misrepresented in western colonial discourse, researched as the "other" and continue to face these same oppressions. Social action does not simply come from agencies existing. Social action comes from within ourselves, first by reflecting on who we are and how we come to know what we know. At the same time we must understand our clients, where they are coming from, their history, lived experiences, and look at the resiliency that they hold. We must also constantly analyze the practices of institutions and discover new ways of doing things, and new ways of knowing what we know. If we do not have a hand in rewriting histories, laws, policies, mandates and so on we will not be creating true social change. In the end social change is not just about us being social workers. It is about myself going out there and being aware of power dynamics, being aware of how I may be oppressive in my very nature as a social worker, resisting oppression, educating marginalized groups, being an advocate for social causes, and empowering marginalized groups to be an advocate for themselves.

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