Abstract:
The text is related to the central issue of the XVth Brazilian Social Workers' Congress, which took place in Pernambuco, in September 2016. It contextualizes the social work in times of economic and political crisis in the country, times in which there has been a wide assault on the legacy of workers' rights and advances in the privatization of public property. It is stressed the different forms of resistance against social inequalities and disparities by organized segments of workers. The article presents a frame of the current situation of the work and the academic education of the Brazilian Social Work, and it looks back on these eight decades of its development and critical renewal. It lists some challenges to Social Work in times of crisis, and it finishes by stating the need to qualify the professional practice, and to resume basic education work to support the workers' organization and movements to defend the rights gotten and democracy.
Keywords:
History of the Brazilian Social Work; Social Work fundamentals; Professional practice