ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines what is happening, some of the explanations of why Social work has come about, some consequences of the internationalization for social workers, their profession and their education and what we think they might do about it. It argues that Western models of social work practice and organization may provide a framework for understanding social work, but that different cultural assumptions and social needs require different social works. The book aims to achieve a social work that contextualizes practice within the current changes that affect our world. It seeks to influence the conception of social work as an activity in an increasingly globalized, postmodern society. The book focuses on the implications of the interaction of the international, the national and the local for social work practice and education.
