Social Work, Place, and Power: Applying Heterotopian Principles to the Social Topology of Social Work

Place-based disparities are apparent throughout social work and social welfare science. Social work has engaged with place and space since its inception but has not developed theoretical foundations for understanding how power operates through social work interventions in relation to space and place. A social topology is the system of interconnected relationships within a social network. Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopias describes spaces that are separated from hegemonic or dominant social spaces and provides heterotopian principles as a framework for evaluating power dynamics within a social topology. By using heterotopian principles and other methods for understanding the use of power within social work programs, we can understand the social topology more clearly. Observing the operations of power in a social topology through a heterotopic analytic lens can provide social work with more effective approaches to developing place-based interventions and emancipatory, transformative practices that can challenge marginalizing social norms.