ABSTRACT
Boundaries between nation states are being re-defined in response to economic and political changes. Despite the growing emphasis on international competition, there are some trends leading towards a common European approach to social policy. The domination of a global economy has led some to argue that nation states are being undermined: they are being ‘hollowed out’. L. Dominelli and A. Hoogvelt trace globalisation, through managerialisation, to its impact on social work practice itself. Europeanisation, as a reaction to the threats associated with international competition, can be said to result from globalization. Globalisation is said to have created or exacerbated certain problems, for example: AIDS, drug abuse, sex tourism, unemployment and migration. The global movement of people creates new challenges around the question of exclusion - exclusion from Europe but also social exclusion within. Social work as a profession evolved in North America and Europe and has become well established in South America, Africa and South East Asia.
