Book launch online
Be sure to tune in for a roundtable discussion of the new book Decolonising Social Work in Finland: Racialisation and Practices of Care - just released by Policy Press.
The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Leece Lee-Oliver, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of American Indian Studies at California State University, Fresno, USA.
When: 10 April 2024 (1900 Helsinki; 1700 London; 1200 noon NYC; 900 am in San Francisco)
Register in advance to receive the zoom link by email.
Policing the Park: Sex Panic and Policymaking in Fresno - new article out!
This study explores how an undercover sting that targeted men soliciting sex with other men around public park toilets in Fresno, California, led to an increase in resources for local law enforcement, including a surveillance system that stretched beyond the park and into poor Black and Brown neighborhoods. We use the literature on policy entrepreneurship to make sense of the power of police both to quell opposition to unpopular public safety initiatives and to make the case for administrative expansion. This case study demonstrates that creating panic about public same-sex erotic activity can be utilized without appearing homophobic or drawing the wrath of LGBTQ+ rights groups, especially when focusing on the dangers to children. We argue that the men arrested for lewd conduct were simply collateral damage and not seen worthy of defense.
Read more here https://www.lambdanordica.org/index.php/lambdanordica/article/view/917/708
New book chapter is out
A new book chapter has just been published. It was a great pleasure to work in collaboration with Dr. Manté Vertelyté, a scholar based in Denmark. The chapter can be found here and the book here.
Abstract
As diverse forms of overt and covert racial discrimination grow in Nordic region, the role of education becomes ever more critical in identifying and responding to these processes. Educational institutions (such as schools and universities) are spaces through which societal relations of inclusion/exclusion are reproduced, but they can also potentially confront various forms of inequalities. To discuss educational challenges for Nordic exceptionalism, we draw on two examples: how whiteness is infused within Finnish social work education curricula through colour-blindness and how mechanisms perpetuate the denial of racism in a Danish secondary school classroom situation. Through these explorations, we draw parallels from different contexts about how Nordic exceptionalism is inculcated in educational settings and discuss how epistemic injustice unfolds in the absence of antiracist education.
Fresno HIV Project presented at Finnish gender studies conference
The Fresno HIV Project was presented at the Feminist Matterings conference at the University of Oulu in northern Finland. The aim of the presentation was to discuss how learning about community activism can inform social work pedagogy.
Lecture on the Fresno HIV project
Join us by zoom to hear a lecture on the Fresno HIV project:
UCD School of Geography Seminar Series
Associate Professor Kris Clarke, University of Helsinki
Queer Love and Solidarity in the Valley: A People’s History of HIV/AIDS in
Fresno, California
Date: 27th October 2022
Time: 15:00 – 16:00 (Irish time zone)
Format: Hybrid
Where: E003 Newman Building
Zoom: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/j/67337697877?pwd=UXhyc2t3ZzRrMlVMd0s2NFpYMXh2QT09 Abstract:
This presentation explores how HIV emerged in the 1980s in an American urban-rural setting. It sets the scene of Fresno, a racially segregated city colloquially viewed as the buckle on the Bible Belt of Central California, during the first cases of HIV. Drawing on a social cartography of socio-political and racial disparities and identities focusing on places of segregated deprivation and emerging diverse sexual identities, it centres how the Tower District, near downtown Fresno, became a gay and lesbian-friendly space despite the prevailing homophobia of the larger community. Using the theoretical lens of queer love, it ends by examining how the Central Valley AIDS Team (CVAT) was started by lesbian women and gay men who extended LGBTQ+ activism in the Fresno community.
About the presenter:
Kris Clarke is an associate professor of social work in the Faculty of Social Sciences at thE University of Helsinki. Their research has evolved from multicultural social work and care in the field of HIV towards themes related to decolonization, structural social work, and the significance of place and social memory. They recently completed a book in collaboration with Michael Yellow Bird, Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work (Routledge, 2020).
Season 2 wraps!
We have just published our 40th episode of The Social Work Routes Podcast and wrapped up the second season! It has been a great honor to talk to so many people around the world making such a difference in the lives of people, communities and structures in society. The second season had a special focus on social work academics and leaders. We talked to researchers working on issues surrounding racialization, abolition, post humanism, Black feminism, and decolonizing social work. We also featured people doing innovative work around LGBTQ+ issues, literacy and work with Hmong-American youth. Stay tuned for a description of the upcoming third season soon!
Call for Papers - submit now!
DECOLONIZING SOCIAL WORK: A Nordic Summer University Study Circle
We welcome abstract submissions and presentations on any topic on decolonizing social work done by Nordic-Baltic researchers or in the Nordic-Baltic context, while we encourage contributions related to the special theme: Decolonizing the welfare society. Explorations of this theme can include structural, societal, experiential, practice-oriented, and posthuman ponderings of the topic from diverse perspectives. We also encourage explorations of hidden histories that continue to influence the welfare society. Submit abstracts (max 500 words) via email to Dr. Kris Clarke kris.clarke@helsinki.fi by 1 June 2022
This study circle on decolonizing social work is an opportunity to participate in a caring, critical discussion of social justice issues and professional practice. Decolonization has become a buzzword in social science in recent years but as Tuck & Yang (2012) note, decolonization is not a metaphor: it is an act. As an applied profession grounded in science, public policy and community activism, social workers and community members are uniquely placed to examine how coloniality shapes the perspectives, practices, and policies of the field, especially in times of conflict, pandemic and neoliberal crisis. We are especially looking to discuss what decolonizing social work means in Nordic-Baltic welfare societies.
Join us at the Nordic Summer University in Oslo this 28 July-4 August! Some funding is available. Since 1950 the Nordic Summer University (NSU) has been an independent, academic institution, which organises symposia that draws international participants across disciplines in the Nordic and Baltic regions. We will have a symposium on decolonizing social work in conjunction with other circles. For information on costs and accommodation see: https://www.nsuweb.org
The symposium will be facilitated by Dr Helena Oikarinen-Jabai (PhD in Art Studies).
Nordic circle on decolonizing social work
On 9-10 May 2022, 20 participants gathered at the University of Helsinki for the first Nordic circle on decolonizing social work. The event was opened by Kaurna Elder, Uncle Mickey O’Brien at Inparilla on Kaurna Yarta who gave a welcome to country. Luke Cantley explained why we do a welcome to country. The SWIRLS team (Social Work Innovation Research Living Space), which included Dr Michelle Jones, at Flinders University talked about Australia’s historical context and colonial legacies and the continuing impacts on health and wellbeing. The gathering continued with dialogues, performance art by Janet Park, discussions on Bedouin social work by Dr Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail, meditations led by Dr Einav Segev. Groups were also facilitated by Dr Henglien Lisa Chen, Dr Ann Anka, and Dr Michael Wallengren Lynch. The aim of the event was to consider the impact of colonization from personal and embodied perspectives.
The Social Work Routes podcast discussed at the European Conference on Social Work Research in Amsterdam
I have been working with producers Priscilla Osei and Smarika KC on writing about the content of the Social Work Routes podcast. At the 11th annual European Conference on Social Work Research, I presented some of the preliminary findings of our study. The presentation outlined the role of podcasts as public scholarship, arguing that one method of decolonizing social work epistemology at the intersection of activist ancestors and professional lineage could be to look to public history as a pedagogical tool in the curriculum. We further pointed out that the use of podcasts has the potential to decolonize the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating local knowledge of activist ancestors thus challenging the top-down approach to expert-driven epistemologies. While we are still in the midst of analyzing our data, based on student feedback we have found that the podcast introduced themes of diversity and intersectionality in Finnish classes that often have a relatively high level of cultural and ethnic homogeneity, challenging perceptions that diversity resides solely in clients. The podcasts also opened up opportunities to transmit knowledge to neurodiverse students, who found them user-friendly. We are continuing to work on this research.
Decolonizing Social Work Circle in the Nordic Summer University
I am excited to be coordinating a Nordic study circle on decolonizing social work on 9-10 May 2022 at the University of Helsinki. The circle is an opportunity to participate in a caring, critical discussion of social justice issues and professional practice with students, community members, service users, academics, knowledge keepers, and practitioners in a safe environment of guided self-care and trust. We invite academics, practitioners, community members, knowledge keepers, students, and other interested people to join us at in this study circle to collaboratively practice community-centered, trusting, and transparent conversations on what decolonizing social work could mean in a Nordic setting. The circle is funded by the Nordic Summer School: an independent, academic institution, which organizes symposia that draws international participants across disciplines in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The event will take place in person and there are limited spaces (sign up is via email to kris.clarke@helsinki.fi). Further information is available here
DRAFT PROGRAM – SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Nordic Circle – Decolonizing Social Work
9-10 May 2022
University of Helsinki, Finland
Kris Clarke, PhD, Associate Professor, organizer (kris.clarke@helsinki.fi)
Organizing committee
Coordinator: Kris Clarke, PhD (University of Helsinki)
University of Malmö, Sweden
Michael Wallengren Lynch, Ph.D, Lecturer, Social Work
University of East Anglia, UK
Ann Anka, Associate Professor in Social Work,
University of Sussex, UK
Henglien Lisa Chen, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Social Work
Sapir College, Israel
Einav Segev, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work
Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work,
Flinders University, Australia
Luke Cantley (key contact), College Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University
Dr Michelle Jones, College Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University
Dr Carmela Bastian, College Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University
9 May 2022
8.00-9.30 Welcome to the land - Indigenous opening streamed in from Flinders University, Australia (takes place outside) Facilitators: Luke Cantley,
Dr Michelle Jones, Dr Carmela Bastian.
9.30-10.00 Break and travel to university premises
10.00-10.15 Opening meditation (Janet Park)
10.15- 11.00 Opening the discussion: exercises to move around in small groups brainstorming thoughts and feelings about how colonization has played a role in our lives. (Facilitators: Ann and Kris)
11.00-11.30 Debrief – talking circle (Facilitator: Lisa & Michael)
11.30-11.45 Break
11.45-13.00 Activity led by Helsinki PhD students
13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-16.00 Afternoon session: sharing on historical trauma and conflict (facilitated by Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail & Einav Segev who also share their work on conflict in Israel-Palestine)
16.00-16.30 Debrief – talking circle (Facilitators: Lisa and Michael)
10 May 2022
9.00-9.15 Opening meditation (Einav)
9.15-11.00 Session on remedying historical wrongs and the significance of social justice in our lives and work: Bedouin perspectives facilitated by Nuzha Allassad Alhuzail)
11.00-11.15 Break
11.15-12.00 Activity led by performance artist Janet Park
12.00-13.00 Discussion of text Confronting professional imperialism and moving towards integrative healing (by Clarke & Yellow Bird) in groups led by Lisa, Michael, Ann, & Kris
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-15.00 Guided discussion on decolonizing social work: what could it mean and what directions should be future steps? Discussion of the three-year application. Led by Einav Segev & Kris Clarke (Reading: Le Grange: (Individual) Responsibility in decolonising the university curriculum & outline of application)
15.00-16.00 Final reflections – talking circle
The first presentation with the HIV project data
This week Dr Christopher Sullivan and I will be presenting some preliminary data about the founding of the Central Valley AIDS Team in the 1980s at the Lesbian Lives conference at University College Cork, Ireland. We are looking forward to good discussion and feedback on our presentation.
New article on decolonizing social work ancestry
The Social Work Routes Podcast has inspired me to think more about how to decolonize our single story narratives of social work history. This article explores how social work shapes its professional identity and ways of knowing by centering the role of canonical founders in the curriculum. The global social work origin story often centers on Anglo-American ancestors so one way of decolonizing social work ways of knowing could be to look to public history as a learning tool. The article concludes by discussing how podcasts like the Social Work Routes Podcast has the potential to decolonize the process of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating local knowledge of ancestors thus challenging the top-down approaches to knowing.
The article, Reimagining Social Work Ancestry: Toward Epistemic Decolonization, has just been published open access. It was a joy to work with the journal, Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work, which produces strong and critical research on a variety of topics in feminist inquiry in social work.
Check out our Instagram
Our producer, Priscilla Osei, and associate producer, Smarika KC, are doctoral students in the Faculty of Social Sciences in Social Work at the University of Helsinki. They are conducting cutting edge research on immigrant communities in Finland and and bring a fresh view to social work topics. Priscilla runs our Instagram account @socialworkroutespodcast which features previews about our podcasts and other social work information. Priscilla and Smarika have also been having their own conversations about social work on IGTV, so be sure to check them out!
Book now open access
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work written by myself and Dr. Michael Yellow Bird is now available for free via the Taylor & Francis open access website here Decolonizing Pathways - we are delighted that this is available freely to the public.
The Social Work Routes Podcast is returning in October
The Social Work Routes Podcast is returning next month! We have a great line up of social workers, activists and other professionals talking about their pathways into social justice work. Check out #socialworkroutespodcast on Instagram where producer and PhD candidate Priscilla Osei will be featuring live interviews and reels. We always welcome suggestions for topics and people to interview.
Autumn brings more episodes
The winds and rain have come to Helsinki, making for a decidedly autumn feel. As the summer fades, the Social Work Routes Podcast is busy gearing up for a new fall lineup. In addition to our discussions on social justice work and social work, we are developing a special series on reflecting on the legacy of HIV/AIDS work forty years after the first scientific reports of an emerging disease. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 80 million people have been infected by HIV globally and 36 million have died of AIDS between 1980 and 2020. We look forward to discussions with a range of activists and experts from around the world to better understand the impact of the AIDS pandemic internationally, nationally, and personally.
We always look for suggestions for topics and participants so feel free to reach out to us with your ideas and comments!
Reflecting on 40 years since the first report of HIV
The National AIDS Grove, San Francisco, California
In June 1981, the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report by the Centers for Disease Control published an article that described cases of a rare lung disease in five young white men in Los Angeles who were previously healthy. A couple of months later, a New York City physician published a study of a cluster of Kaposi’s sarcoma in young men who did not fit the profile of the typical person diagnosed with the autoimmune condition. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 36 cases of the unknown disease in Western Europe in 1981, mainly in France and Denmark. These were the first reports on what would become known as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), though current research indicates that HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) was present on the African continent long before these reports.
The early years of the AIDS pandemic were marked by moral panic, shame and stigma which proved to be significant barriers to developing care and prevention. Community-led activism around the globe challenging the shame and discrimination that surrounded HIV/AIDS and fundamentally altered the relationship between the medical establishment and patients, the visibility and recognition of many social identities, and opened up new coalitions to promote prevention and empowerment. However, social class, citizenship, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation continue to be significant factors in access to care. Dr. Cathy Cohen and Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes, for example, have written excellent books about the complexities of HIV in African American communities. The lesson of the AIDS pandemic, like COVID-19, is that we are in this together and unless we tackle the structural injustice that many communities face, we will have disparities in infection rates and care.
Since the start of the epidemic, around 78 million people have become infected with HIV and 39 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. According to UNAIDS, 37.6 people around the world were living with HIV in 2020. AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 61% since the peak in 2004. Every week, around 5000 young women aged 15–24 years become infected with HIV. We still need education, anti-discrimination measures and tools for empowerment so that people have the ability to make safe decisions. Stigma and structural violence remain major barriers to prevention and care. Interventions must be culturally appropriate, based on science and rooted in the diversity of community. The battle is not over.
New HIV blog post for Nordic project
One of the best things about academic life is participating in discussions with interesting people that bring new perspectives on topics. The Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (NOS-HS) funds projects to host a series of multidisciplinary workshops on specific issues. A great strength of this model is that it brings people together from all of the Nordic countries to explore emerging ideas in new ways. Last December, I participated in the virtual workshop on Queering Family Violence: Setting the Agenda for Queer Wellbeing, which opened up new approaches to thinking about our HIV project.
This is the blog post I wrote with colleagues for the project.
Welcome to the new website
This is a relaunch of my website that combines a portfolio of my academic work along with episodes of The Social Work Routes Podcast. I am always interested in hearing from folks so if you have suggestions, questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out!