1st Edition

Social Work and Sustainability in Asia Facing the Challenges of Global Environmental Changes

Edited By Alice M. L. Chong, Iris Chi Copyright 2019
    270 Pages
    by Routledge

    270 Pages
    by Routledge

    The rapid trend of globalization has brought with it a variety of sustainability challenges, including global climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and social inequalities, which are problems with unclear boundaries, complicated interrelated components, undefined parameters, contradictory values, and no single solution. Social work has a long-standing tradition of emphasizing the interaction of people and their environment. For this reason, the field of social work is one of the best-placed academic disciplines for studying the impact of environmental change on social systems, and should play an important role in developing strategies for mitigating and adapting to these environmental challenges. However, traditional social work tends to lack sustaining work and neglect globally interconnected social problems.





    Combining case studies and country reports from around Asia with a theoretical framework for understanding sustainability concerns, this book aims to show how social work can play a valuable role in mitigating and adapting to environmental challenges and social sustainability. For social work to develop a meaningful and viable profession that addresses contemporary sustainability issues, it requires changes and transformation in paradigm, theories, strategies, social policy and social services that will facilitate a sustainable future for all mankind.

    Notes on contributors
    Preface (Annamaria Campanini)
    Preface (Ruth Stark)



    List of tables
    Lists of figures
    List of photographs



    Part I: Theory and Concepts of Social Sustainability and Social Work



    1. Social Work and Sustainable Development: An Overview



    IRIS CHI, ALICE M. L. CHONG, TING KIN NG, AND DIEGO BUSIOL



    2. Neoliberalism and Globalization: Trends Shaping Sustainable Social Work Practice



    MICHAEL HOLOSKO AND JOELLE A. PETTUS



    3. Social Sustainability and Global Climate Change: A New Challenge for Social Work



    LAWRENCE A. PALINKAS AND MARLEEN WONG



    4. Operationalizing and Measuring Social, Economic and Environmental Sustainability: Current Efforts and Future Directions



    MARY L. OHMER



    Part II: Case Studies in Asia



    5. Global grassroots green movement driven by Tzu Chi Foundation’s recycling volunteers: a multifaceted model of environmental sustainability with transformative social changes



    HSIN-YI HSIAO, HSUN-TA HSU, DEBRA BOUDREAUX, AND ALICE TING



    6. Apocalyptic learning for sustainability in aged Japan: positive reciprocities and social innovations in the information age



    ON-KWOK LAI



    7. Reducing the High Vulnerability of the Elderly to Urban Flooding: Findings from the 2011 Floods in Bangkok



    DANNY MARKS



    8. Humanitarian response after a complex environmental disaster: a case study of Typhoon Haiyan



    TARA POWELL AND JADE BRACK



    9. In the Typhoon Corridor: Rebuilding Communities in the Philippines through Empowerment and Innovation



    ANNALISA ENRILE, GABRIELLE AQUINO, AND VIVIEN VILLAVERDE



    10. The Global Climate Change: Necessary Child Protection Services in Vietnam



    TUYEN THI THANH BUI, GRACE M. MISHLER AND GARY W. STUDEBAKER



    11. Mass relocation and social sequence for the elderly in rural China



    WEIHONG ZENG, ZHENG WU, CHRISTOPH M. SCHIMMELE AND SHUZHUO LI



    12. Maximizing impact in Hong Kong: economic, social, and environmental sustainability among nongovernmental organizations



    ELAINE AU LIU AND PAUL VINOD KHIATANI



    13. Collaboration and Innovation for Inclusive Green Growth at a Community Level in Suzhou, China



    WANXIN LI, ERIC ZUSMAN AND JINING CHEN



    14. Social work education in China: issues, challenges, and implications for sustainability



    PATRICK LEUNG AND ASHLEIGH SCINTA



    Part III: Leadership and Future Development



    15. Preparing Social Workers to Advance Social Sustainability: Transforming Social Work Education



    MARY L. OHMER



    16. Leadership and Sustainable Development in the Future



    ALICE M. L. CHONG, IRIS CHI, AND DIEGO BUSIOL



    Index

    Biography

    Alice M. L. Chong is Professor and Social Work Discipline Leader in the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.



    Iris Chi is the Chinese-American Golden Age Association/Frances Wu Chair for the Chinese Elderly at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.