The Politics of Indigenization: A Case Study of Development of Social Work in China

Authors

Miu Chung Yan, University of British Columbia
Kwok Wah Cheung, Hong Kong University

Keywords

Indigenization, recontextualization, China, social work development, Basil Bernstein

Abstract

Internationalization and indigenization are dialectical processes of knowledge transfer. However, social work literature has paid scant attention to the process of indigenization, which can best be understood as one of recontextualization. This paper introduces Basil Bernstein's theory, which contends that recontextualization is a political process, as an analytical tool for us to understand the politics of indigenization. To demonstrate the usefulness of this tool, this paper analyzes how, in China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and social work academics interactively compete for this control.

Recommended Citation

Yan, Miu Chung and Cheung, Kwok Wah (2006) "The Politics of Indigenization: A Case Study of Development of Social Work in China," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 33: Iss. 2, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3161
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol33/iss2/5