Bodies are not ‘Tools’: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Embodiment in Social Work
| dc.contributor.author | Walker, Megn | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-10T16:09:18Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-12-10T16:09:18Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Social work has historically focused on managing bodies without adequately addressing the implications of the mind/body split. As the social work profession is beginning to embrace embodiment practices, I was interested in learning how social work scholars understand the impacts of mind/body split, what practices are being suggested to re-negotiate this binary, and how certain discourses frame bodies as ‘tools’ for social work. Drawing from Foucauldian discourse analysis and genealogical methodology, I explore the roots of the mind/body split in white supremacy culture, settler colonialism, and neoliberal capitalism. By pointing to the history of social work's complicity in perpetuating the mind/body split and the need for a shift in theoretical perspectives around embodiment, I propose a critical embodiment theory to challenge existing paradigms and open new avenues for both micro and macro social work. While my research is focused on theory, it holds significant material implications. We stand at a pivotal moment where the integration of embodiment into social work practice could foster decolonial and resistance-oriented approaches, or continue to reinforce the mind/body split through perpetuating white supremacy culture and neoliberal practices. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10315/42562 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.title | Bodies are not ‘Tools’: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Embodiment in Social Work | |
| dc.type | Research Paper |