Area of Concentration

The contents that make up the area of concentration — Social Work, Work, and Human Diversity — not only summarize the generalist perspective of it, but also centralize the Social Work Program by highlighting Work as a central category for the understanding of capitalist society in articulation with the analysis elucidated by Human Diversity. Considering Work as a fundamental category for the understanding of the social being and the central part of work alienated in a capitalist society, the challenge consists of developing theoretical and empirical research capable of revealing the expressions of social issues. It also includes the living conditions of the working class and the work processes that incorporate social workers. By knowing the many ways in which social issues express themselves, both in past and contemporary history, it is possible to deepen the analysis of the numerous dimensions inherent to human diversity and to social inequalities within capitalism. Here, it is more specific to the inequalities related to the oppressions and discriminations of gender and sexuality, as well as those associated with ethnic, racial, and generational aspects. In these terms, the assumptions, supported by the foundations of social theory, allow the development of critical and theoretical and ontological analysis when overcoming the phenomenality of social life. The aforementioned analysis, in turn, acknowledges possibilities of unveiling the very social meaning of the profession, providing support for professional action by contemplating possibilities and limits inscribed in the socio-historical structure.