APPROACHES TO SOCIAL

ACTION – FREIRE ,
GANDHI (SARVODAYA) ,
ALINSKY , RADICAL
SOCIAL WORK; RIGHTS
BASED APPROACH.
ALPHONSA BABU
INTRODUCTION
Social action is a method of social work
aimed at solving social problems through
redistribution of power and resources.

MARY RICHMOND (1922) Has defined

“social action as mass betterment through
propaganda and social legislation.”
Paulo Freire
Freire was a Brazilian educator who linked
literary with development and social change.

Conscientization approach
■ The term conscientization means
consciousness raising/critical consciousness.
■ The term popularized by Poulo Freire in his
work “PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED”
published in 1970
■ Freire developed the method of conscientization
to combat the problem of illiteracy. He used
education as a tool for development.
■ Conscientization is the ability to perceive
social, political and economic oppression and to
take action against the oppressive elements of
society. It is the process of developing a critical
awareness of one’s social reality through
reflection and action.
■ Conscientization focuses on achieving an in-
depth understanding of the world, allowing for
the perception and exposure of social and
political contradictions.
■ Conscientization is a process which enables
people to analyse their own situation and to
understand their own alienation
■ They must discover their individual and
corporate power and act towards the
creation of their own future.
■ Taking action against the oppressive
elements in one’s life that are illuminated
by the understanding.
■ Education is the foundation of
conscientization.
Gandhian approach- sarvodhaya
■ Sarvodaya is a sanskrit word derived from
two words, namely sarva and udaya.
■ Sarva means “all” And udaya means
“rise”,“uplift” etc
■ So sarvodaya literally means the welfare of
all or the upliftment of all.
■ The Ultimate objective of Sarvodaya is the
total well-being of all or the greatest good
of all
■ Sarvodhaya focused not only on the welfare
of the individual but also on the welfare of
society as a whole. Welfare of both classes.
■ It wanted each human to be treated
equally.it wanted to establish a community
based on non violence where freedom
equality prevailed.
■ Sarvodaya aim at establishing a new social,
political, economic and moral order. And the
liberation of every individual.
■ The fundamental gaol of Sarvodaya is the
greatest good of all living beings.
■ The gaol of Sarvodaya includes ultimately the
self realization of every individual.
Saul Alinsky approach
The greatest enemy of the individual freedom is the
individual himself. People cannot be free unless they
are willing to sacrifice some of their interests to
guarantee the freedom of others. There can be no
darker or power to direct his future. This is the view
of saul alinsky on what individual are supposed to do
in society and for society.
■ According to Saul alinsky creative and imaginative
thinking is one of the major requirements.
■ The people determine the direction they want
to go the organizers introduce ideas.
Step 1 – disorganization of the existing
organized community
For a community to get organised the basic
task of the organiser is to disorganise the
community. The existing pattern needs to be
replaced by changed patterns involving
participation from people this mechanism is
called community organization.
Step 2 – building power
After organising the community is to build
up power in the organization. According to
alinsky change comes from power and power
comes from organisation.the organisers job is
to build confidence and hope.
Step 3 – changing problems to issues
The next step is create issues. Through
action, persuasion and communication the
organiser make it clear that organisation
will give them the power, ability, strength
and force to be able to do something about
these particular problem.
Step 4 – provision of alternative to the
organisations
After helping the people to clarify the issue
the organiser provides the community with
alternatives of action. But the people
decide which of the alternative they will
follow.
Radical social work; right based
approach
Radical social work is the idea that social work aims
to improve peoples lives not only by helping
individual and families but also make an effort for
structural change. It aims to bring systems of
oppression to an end through advocacy, community
organising and direct action.

Radical social work is also closely related to critical

social work or structural social work.
Right based approach
– Right based approach is a way of
empowering people to know and claim their
rights. A rights-based approach develops the
capacity of duty bearers to meet their
obligations and encourage rights holders to
claim their rights.

– Government have three level of obligation:

to respect protect and fulfill every right.
Conclusion
Social action has developed it’s theoretical
position by drawing on a number of
approaches. The technique enabling the
people for better functioning. social action
helps in bringing Long term changes in
society.
Thank you