ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and demonstrates the importance of social theoretical accounts of globalization for social work. The chapter begins by explaining the significance of the ‘global turn’ within social theory, before explicating the analytical perspectives and conceptual ideas this has given rise to including the work of Wallerstein, Bauman, Beck, Giddens, Castells, Robertson and others. The applied section of the chapter draws on the theoretical concepts and perspectives to consider the nature of the challenges globalization poses for social work, the need for social workers to think globally while acting locally, and the difficulties and potential facing those seeking to construct a universal social work.
