The “Human Rights Profession” and War: Humanitarian Help and Social Work in Armed Conflicts

Whereas, in the past, social work publications dealing with armed conflict were of interest to a relatively small community; beginning with the Ukraine conflict, this issue has moved into the center of social work discourses. This has raised issues concerning the positioning of social work in political and armed conflict again. Looking at the literature on social work and armed conflicts, it is generally assumed that the definition of the human rights profession also holds for social work in situations of violent collective conflicts. This, however, raises questions. This paper will argue that antinomies emerge for social work resulting from the definition as a human rights profession and the realities of humanitarian work in armed conflicts which have yet to be dealt with.