‘Buen Vivir’: Shared Future for Transformative Change

 

World Social Work Day: March 19

The Spanish words ‘Buen Vivir’ or ‘Vivir Bien’ need to be understood before moving ahead with the importance of an important day being celebrated all across the globe today. ‘Buen Vivir’ means living well or life in harmony. These are used in Latin America to describe alternatives to development focused on the good life. The words have become a popular term in some government programs and have even reached its way into two new Constitutions in Ecuador and Bolivia. In the Andean countries of Latin America, the principle of ‘Buen Vivir’ developed as alternative to western notions of development. It describes a way of doing things that is community centric, ecologically balanced and culturally sensitive. The term is also now actively used in various social movements. Academicians and Intellectuals say that a defining characteristic of ‘Buen Vivir’ is harmony, i. e harmony between human beings and also between human beings and nature. It instills a sense of collectiveness.

            March 19 every year is celebrated as World Social Work Day highlighting the importance of social work in bringing about the desired changes in the society. It is also recognition of the endaveour of our social workers who put in their best efforts to make the conditions of life easier for those who lack it. When I talk of social work, I recognize it as a helping profession. Its mission is to work towards well being of humans by helping meet basic as well as complex needs of humanity. The focus of social work is always on vulnerable, oppressed and those living in poor and inhumane conditions. In this profession trained professionals are devoted to helping vulnerable people and communities work through challenges they face in everyday life. This profession promotes social change, development, cohesion and the empowerment of people and communities. This type of work cannot be accomplished successfully without an understanding of human development, behaviour and the social, economic and cultural institutions and interactions among these institutions and persons. Social workers work with families and institutions in different areas that include civil rights, unemployment, rights and justice of the deprived and disable, health care, child abuse, female literacy and many other social issues. The transformative role played by social workers in driving positive change and fostering communities that thrive on mutual respect and sustainability deserve to be recognized. Each year, the nature and complexity of problems and challenges experienced by communities continuously evolve and grow. These challenges call for social workers to lead and facilitate social change that can have a lasting impact on communities and people. A social worker represents a change agent system that works with or for the client system to bring in the desired changes in the target system. As an example a woman (client system) approaches the social worker (change agent system) with the problem that her alcoholic husband (target system) beats her up daily. Social worker, as a part of intervention may counsel the husband and get him rehabilitated with the help of de-addiction centre.

            Social workers promote social justice and empower clients and communities through advocacy. Advocacy skills enable social workers to represent and argue for their clients and to connect them with needed resources and opportunities, especially when clients are vulnerable or unable to advocate for themselves. Social work professionals generally operate at three levels with a difference in the level of service being provided to them. At the micro level social workers provide one-on-one, family and small-group services addressing a wide range of social issues. These may include housing support, substance abuse counseling and mental health therapy. At the Mezzo level, social workers work with groups of people, such as in a school, prison, hospital or neighborhoods. They may help students struggling academically, address substance abuse recovery with prison inmates or help coordinate care for patients who are admitted to hospitals for long-term care. Similarly at the Macro level social work, social workers are actively involved in policy-making, research and community-based initiatives. Social workers at this level of practice are more likely to focus on and help address larger societal issues like homelessness, substance abuse, healthcare and more.

History of World Social Work Day: Unofficially it started in 1983 when United Nations International federation of Social Workers (IFSW) led by Mr. Jack Kamaiko proposed that the social workers from the local area in Newyork be invited to the UN Headquarters. This was the launch of an annual celebration that finally resulted in the World Social Work Day. Officially, the first World Social Work Day was observed in the year 2007

Theme of World Social Work Day 2024: This year the World Social Work Day is celebrated with the theme ‘Buen Vivir’: Shared Future for Transformative Change. The theme is the most appropriate and relevant in today’s time when the entire humanity is facing multiple crisis form various social stigmas to environmental concerns. The philosophy and principles of ‘Buen Vivir’

guides all social workers to prioritize true well-being, which is rooted in community and harmony with nature.

Change vs Transformative Change: There lies a difference between simple change and transformative change. While change is usually a response to something and happens gradually, transformative change is a deliberate and significant shift. Change is about shifting something specific within the business, such as a process, structure, or system. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment defines transformative change as 'a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors  including paradigms, goals and values, needed for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, good quality of life and sustainable development. A transformative change is a consequence of mass movements. History is a witness to so many mass movements which have resulted in replacing one system with another be it the governments or the type of governance. It usually follows a systems approach, deriving its power by attending equally to hearts and minds (the inner life of human beings), human behavior, and the social systems and structures in which they exist. It therefore tends to be multi-disciplinary, integrating a range of approaches and methodologies.

 

The World Social Work Day 2024 theme also emphasizes the need for social workers to adopt innovative, community-led approaches that are grounded in indigenous wisdom and harmonious coexistence with nature. As we navigate the multifaceted challenges of today’s world, from violent conflicts to environmental crises, the principle of ‘Buen Vivir’ guides social workers to prioritize true well-being, which is rooted in community and harmony with nature. This World Social Work Day, let’s unite together and commit ourselves to work towards a shared future that aims to bring in community driven participatory and transformative change, based on harmonious relationship with nature.

 

                                Dr. Kumar writes on agriculture and social issues, can be reached at pkumar6674@gmail.com