But is it social work?

It was in May 1915, at an early social work conference held in Baltimore, United States of America, that Abraham Flexner posed the question, ‘Is social work a profession?’ This question came at a critical time, as early social workers in the global North were fighting to be recognised alongside members of the older professions including law and medicine. Social workers have struggled with this question, and with questions about the identity and nature of social work ever since. In this article, Richard Human, distinguished Australian academic and author, argues that the global North must look to the global South to understand better the fundamental question, ‘but is it social work?’