What started as a peripheral banking crisis in 2008 within five years triggered the deepest recession Europe has seen in decades, escalating to manifold socio-political crises. Under these circumstances, many social workers find themselves in a situation of extreme pressure and insecurity. Traditional theories and orthodox practices are now challenged by frontline social workers. This article explores such a 'reconceptualization' process, evaluating recent developments and changes in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek social work. We argue that the current crisis has generated a profound (re)politicization of social workers which leads to the redefinition of the core values and principles of social work.

Amid the unprecedented financial crisis in Greece, which began unfolding in 2010, a major radical reform of the welfare state was implemented. This reform was presented, by both mainstream academics and politicians, as a ‘painful yet necessary’ step due to the broader extraordinary sociopolitical circumstances that can only be compared to a ‘state of emergency’. In this article we argue that, despite the dominant rhetoric about the urgency of these policies, they should be seen as a continuation and further acceleration of previous neoliberal changes in the welfare state. While showing the continuity of the structural reforms, we place particular emphasis on the devastating impact these have had on both social services and service users. In doing so, we use the experiences of frontline social workers who have been at the epicentre of the ongoing reforms, directly witnessing their catastrophic impact. In the light of these overwhelming experiences, Greek social workers have started challenging the orthodoxies of ‘traditional’ social work and engaged with an exploration of alternative forms of social work theory and practice (reconceptualisation).

This article presents findings from a research study aiming at exploring in-depth experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and communities in the Greek healthcare system. This was the first study of its kind in Greece. Data collected from interviews with LGBT groups and individuals, as well as doctors, suggest that homophobia and transphobia are profound factors of systematic exclusion and restriction from access to good quality healthcare. Our findings suggest that within the healthcare context, LGBT people are routinely invisibilised and/or pathologised. The authors emphasise the urgent need for challenging chronic and institutionalised invisibility experienced by LGBT people as a necessary precondition of social equality and genuine universalism within the Greek Health System.

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Social work practice and training in the context of political and ethnic conflict has seen renewed interest among scholars. Recent research has tried to shift focus away from simplistic interpretations of social work as an unshakably 'benevolent' profession. A recent emphasis on social work's colonial legacies and the structural causes of political violence provide us with important new directions on how to rethink and reshape social work education and practice in these contexts. Cyprus presents a very interesting, yet under-explored, case study as it remains an island de facto divided, along ethnic lines. The division has resulted in the physical and political separation of the two most populous ethnic communities (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots). United Nations (UN)-sponsored peace talks have gained momentum in recent years. This paper offers the first systematic exploration of the views of social work students across both sides of the divide. Through a mixed-method approach, students were able to express their thoughts and beliefs on 'the other' and on social work in the post-conflict realities. The study confirms the contradictory nature of social work education in Cyprus challenges the futility of nationalism and argues for the importance of bi-communal social work partnerships.

Although dominant interpretations of international social work history argue that the profession has always been unconditionally committed to social justice, the Greek case demonstrates otherwise. The development of the Greek project was in close collaboration with authoritarian regimes and served as a tool for Anglo-American interests in the region.

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This is the final document adopted at the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) General Assemblies in 2020. The updated Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training is the product of an extensive global consultation that lasted for more than 18 months and included a wide range of social work academics, practitioners and experts by experience across 125 countries, represented by 5 regional associations and engaging with approximately 400 universities and further education organisations. The consultation and publication process was co-ordinated by Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis (IFSW) and Professor Dixon Sookraj (IASSW).