I’m middle-aged and recently had what I consider to be a quasi-psychotic break: I realized that society is built on institutions–whether explicitly like the government, or implicitly like white supremacy–and pretty much to get ahead in any organization, you are judged primarily by how you serve the institution or those inside of the institution.
What really blew my mind is realizing the social work–the field I was in–was actively supporting whtie supremacy even as everyone in the field would deny any such thing. People serve these systems unknowingly, like the coppertops in the Matrix…
As a result, I’m pretty pessimistic both for society and for my future job prospects.
Does anarchy have any intersection with this collection of beliefs?
The general basis of anarchist philosophy is a rejection of all hierarchies. These can be explicit hierarchies, like governments or private companies, but also things like white supremacy or transphobia that aren’t always formally organized (even if they’re often enforced by more formal organization).
Social workers often have to deal with that sort of tension, because their work almost always exists within a hierarchical way of doing things. Even the most well-meaning social workers have to operate under the logic of government. That way, it’s unavoidable that they place themselves in a hierarchical relationship with their clients. Anarchists would prefer more cooperative models, primarily based on mutual aid.
As anarchists, we similarly can’t avoid those hierarchies. Part of the anarchist critique of governments or capitalism isn’t just that they oppress us, but also that they force us to oppress others. Most anarchists have to come to terms with this in order to find a job that they find bearable.
Yeah, my old and quasi-semi-current carreer is in social work, and I can’t get a job because I keep talking about wanting to remove barriers between me and the people I work with and not wanting to be “the expert” talking down to them. Job search poison.
There’s a wonderful dissertation written about social work and education are actually the domain primarily of white women, granted that privilege by the white patriarchy in exchange for servicing the white patriarchy. Love and Treason: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_llss_etds/124/ I wouldn’t let social work off the morally compromised hook merely on the basis of the existence of hiearchy.
In my own currernt work, I see how the governing board primarily reflects the desires of privileged white funders, and I see how everyone’s position is based on kissing ass, at the expense of the people we putatively serve but are functionally just excuses by which we maintain our position and status. I’ve brought up at least one regular and flagrant ethical violation with absolutely nothing done because it serves the interests of the institution to continue.
There is a position in social for peer advocacy, recognized in my state, that I’m training for. But it’s a step down in every way from what my training is, it’s a dead-end job, and, again, I’m probably never going to get hired because I’m overqualified and I’m going to have authority by my education and training beyond the low-totem pole position of a peer advocate.
Anyway. What are you doing for work?
Resources for connecting with other anarchists and learning more about anarchist philosophy without Gramsci-levels of linguistic abstraction?
Hm. This is my first comment on Lemmy. Woo hoo!
I’m middle-aged and recently had what I consider to be a quasi-psychotic break: I realized that society is built on institutions–whether explicitly like the government, or implicitly like white supremacy–and pretty much to get ahead in any organization, you are judged primarily by how you serve the institution or those inside of the institution.
What really blew my mind is realizing the social work–the field I was in–was actively supporting whtie supremacy even as everyone in the field would deny any such thing. People serve these systems unknowingly, like the coppertops in the Matrix…
As a result, I’m pretty pessimistic both for society and for my future job prospects.
Does anarchy have any intersection with this collection of beliefs?
In general, it does.
The general basis of anarchist philosophy is a rejection of all hierarchies. These can be explicit hierarchies, like governments or private companies, but also things like white supremacy or transphobia that aren’t always formally organized (even if they’re often enforced by more formal organization).
Social workers often have to deal with that sort of tension, because their work almost always exists within a hierarchical way of doing things. Even the most well-meaning social workers have to operate under the logic of government. That way, it’s unavoidable that they place themselves in a hierarchical relationship with their clients. Anarchists would prefer more cooperative models, primarily based on mutual aid.
As anarchists, we similarly can’t avoid those hierarchies. Part of the anarchist critique of governments or capitalism isn’t just that they oppress us, but also that they force us to oppress others. Most anarchists have to come to terms with this in order to find a job that they find bearable.
Yeah, my old and quasi-semi-current carreer is in social work, and I can’t get a job because I keep talking about wanting to remove barriers between me and the people I work with and not wanting to be “the expert” talking down to them. Job search poison.
There’s a wonderful dissertation written about social work and education are actually the domain primarily of white women, granted that privilege by the white patriarchy in exchange for servicing the white patriarchy. Love and Treason: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_llss_etds/124/ I wouldn’t let social work off the morally compromised hook merely on the basis of the existence of hiearchy.
In my own currernt work, I see how the governing board primarily reflects the desires of privileged white funders, and I see how everyone’s position is based on kissing ass, at the expense of the people we putatively serve but are functionally just excuses by which we maintain our position and status. I’ve brought up at least one regular and flagrant ethical violation with absolutely nothing done because it serves the interests of the institution to continue.
There is a position in social for peer advocacy, recognized in my state, that I’m training for. But it’s a step down in every way from what my training is, it’s a dead-end job, and, again, I’m probably never going to get hired because I’m overqualified and I’m going to have authority by my education and training beyond the low-totem pole position of a peer advocate.
Anyway. What are you doing for work?
Resources for connecting with other anarchists and learning more about anarchist philosophy without Gramsci-levels of linguistic abstraction?