Pelos direitos e pela justiça : a influência da teologia da libertação no serviço social brasileiro.

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the influence of Liberation Theology on Brazilian Social Work. Liberation Theology emerged in the 1960s through progressive sectors of the Catholic Church that questioned the poverty in Latin America and the poor living conditions of the population. Discontent with the social reality, this theology reinterpreted the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth by adopting a critical reading of social facts and using Marxist concepts to address the “Social Question.” It is known that Social Work in Brazil originated in the 1930s, intertwined with the Catholic Church, and in the 1960s, it began its Reconceptualization Movement, a time when Liberation Theology was gaining momentum in Latin America, especially after the Medellín and Puebla episcopal conferences. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the main ethical-political influences of Liberation Theology on Brazilian Social Work. The genesis of Social Work is often discussed with its conservative roots due to the Catholic Church, but little is said about the progressive Catholic branch of Liberation Theology and its possible contributions to the ethical-political dimension of Social Work in its context of renewal. Therefore, this work seeks to identify the intersection between Liberation Theology and its possible influences on the reconceptualization of Social Work and its contributions to the ethical-political project. To achieve this goal, we conducted a bibliographic review, using digital platforms such as Google Scholar, SciELO, and Institutional Repositories of Federal Universities as sources of data. The results revealed that scientific production on the topic is still very limited, with only two master’s theses and one scientific article directly addressing the subject. Given the results, we can conclude that scientific research on the relationship between Liberation Theology and Social Work is still scarce, highlighting the need for greater attention from researchers to this topic. The texts produced on the subject show that Liberation Theology and Social Work intersect during the Reconceptualization Movement from the 1960s, and the dialogue between them occurs mainly through popular education and social movements. The Catholic Church embraced new perspectives with Liberation Theology, which inspired and propelled significant social movements that led various struggles in Latin America. Social Work, through the three strands of the reconceptualization process (conservative modernization, re-updating conservatism, and intent of rupture), critically assessed its traditional foundations and left an important critical legacy for the profession that endures to this day. These two processes of change in Social Work and the Church intersect, promoting dialogues and alignments that converge in the defense of social justice and Human Rights.