Social Action, Advocacy and the Struggle for Recognition: An Historical, Political and Sociological Reality
Collective action in social work has always been a fertile ground for advocacy. With its principles of social justice, solidarity, autonomy and democracy, collective and/or community-based intervention involves social, economic, cultural and political claims. Through their work and activities, social workers, citizens and volunteers are called upon to take a position on several political issues, either implicitly or explicitly, and thus become advocates. This advocacy contributes to the establishment of a plural democracy and the struggle for recognition by oppressed or marginalized communities. This “struggle for recognition”, as defined by Honneth (2008), allows us to better understand the role of conflicts in the social integration processes, as well as the place of advocacy within a transformative vision of society.