About the conference

Topic

Social Work Advocacy in Contemporary Society

Social work certainly had and still has a difficult position in society (but what profession would claim otherwise?). While this profession has managed to establish itself historically in terms of direct assistance in the life situations of individuals, families, groups or smaller communities, its role and active involvement in promoting social change and influencing the systemic causes of problems in society already raises questions. Is social work today understood only as a tool for changing the client's situation, or also as an engaged element of change in society? As the conference organizers, we believe that it is also the latter. For such a role to be truly fulfilled, we need to analyze contemporary conditions and the ambition that the social work profession has (or does not have) in terms of social change. Can social work currently achieve social change, influence changes in legislation or perhaps increase social cohesion and resilience of society as a whole? To find answers to these questions, it is necessary not only to analyze the current conditions and current ambitions of the social work profession, but also its historical steps leading to the promotion of this profession. Among the topics of the conference, focused on the promotion of social work in contemporary society, is certainly the role of the media, both traditional and new in cyberspace. And we certainly look towards to any other issues that conference participants can actively contribute to the topic of promoting social work.

Choosing such topic of the conference, we want to pay a small tribute to the lifelong work of the prominent German thinker in the field of social sciences Jürgen Habermas († 14. 3. 2026), who passed away this year. The issue of promoting social sciences was like a thin red line in the active shaping of the shape of society through his work. Albeit indirectly, he significantly shaped the theory of social work, among other things, by conceptualizing the process of "colonization of the lifeworld by a system" or by emphasizing the importance of communicative action, which is oriented towards seeking agreement (in opposition to instrumental/strategic action), which can be considered to be part of the ethical basis of social work.