ABSTRACT
The idea of human rights is central to social work across the world. But what does this mean, beyond the rhetoric? Sarah Cemlyn’s important article explores connections between human rights and other frameworks, including professional codes. She identifies how difficult it is to keep human rights to the fore in the context of managerialism and the consumerization of rights, and she cautions against the dangers of ‘Western’-style human rights approaches being imposed on other countries in an uncritical way. This chimes well with one of the themes running throughout our collection; that social work must be understood as a context-specific, diverse and changing phenomenon. Please note: the article is highly referenced; readers should go to the original article to find all sources.
