Mlodoch, K. (2021). Systematising Local Knowledge: Hierarchies, Power Relations and Decontextualisation in West-East Knowledge Transfer. In K. Sonnenberg, & C. Ghaderi (Eds.),
Social Work in Post-War and Political Conflict Areas. Examples from Iraqi Kurdistan and beyond.
(pp. 91-109). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32060-7_6
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-32060-7_6
Based on the author’s long-standing research and work experience in the realm of psychosocial counselling for women survivors of violence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the paper reflects on the current influx of mostly Western-shaped concepts of trauma, psychosocial and social work into the region. It takes a critical look at the hierarchies and colonial aspects inherent to the West–East knowledge transfer and its tendencies towards de-contextualisation and marginalisation of local knowledge and practices. Drawing on examples of local practices in trauma care and psychosocial work, it presents approaches of systematising local practices and knowledge of social work, and takes a critical stance towards the construction of a dichotomy between local and global knowledge and the risk of ‘culturalising’ different approaches to social work. It thus contributes to the debate on the development of participative and equal platforms and mechanisms of knowledge transfer, theory–practice transfer and knowledge exchange in the realm of international (psycho)social work.