ABSTRACT
Whether applied in research or direct practice, reflexivity is an essential item in a critical social worker’s intellectual toolkit. This chapter explores the value of Bourdieu’s theoretical frame to inform critical social work practice via the ability to observe structures of inequality, but also enable social workers to reflexively account for themselves within those structures. Bourdieu’s work is particularly valuable in reading oppression close-up as his theoretical toolkit continues to draw attention to the daily, mundane, yet always powerful social routines that surround social workers. The chapter also contributes to the need for a stronger articulation and appreciation of the importance of social research within the pedagogy of critical social work.
