Social Workers for Democracy: Profession-Based Activism In Times of Political Unrest

Background and Purpose:

Social Workers for Democracy (SWD) is a grassroots professional organization established in 2023 in response to democratic backsliding in Israel. The organization brings together approximately 700 licensed social workers across the country who engage in activism grounded in professional values and ethics to promote democratic resilience, human rights, dialogue, and peace. Drawing on critical social work theories, SWD positions the profession as a vehicle for challenging inequality, marginalization, and structural oppression.

This study documents and examines SWD’s activities and perceived impact on the profession, its members, and the public, exploring how professional policy engagement intersects with civic activism during crisis.

Methods:

A critical ethnography case-study approach was employed to examine the organization (Creswell, 2013; Madison, 2011), using mixed methods that included an online survey and qualitative document analysis. The survey was distributed between June-October 2025 through the organization’s WhatsApp groups and Facebook page. It collected demographic and professional characteristics, levels of involvement, links between professional identity and activism, and perceptions of organizational impact. Qualitative data were drawn from organizational archives and social media content. Survey data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Triangulation was used to identify patterns and negative cases, strengthening analytic rigor.

Results:

Sample. Forty-five SWD members completed the questionnaire. Most participants were women (84%), identified as Jewish (84%) and secular (95%). The majority held an MSW (77%), while 13.6% held a BSW and 2.3% a PhD.

Engagement in profession-based activism. Members reported participation in a range of organizational activities. Most participants joined protests (86.4%), signed petitions and letters (70.5%), and shared organizational content on social media (59.9%). Nearly half wore group symbols such as T-shirts or signs (47.7%), while 20.5% spoke publicly at demonstrations. Additionally, 45.5% attended meetings and webinars, and 27.3% participated in conferences led by the organization. Qualitative findings showed that alongside confrontational activism, fostering professional dialogue and strengthening professional identity were key strategies for navigating political polarization.

Professional identity and activism. Most respondents (81.3%) reported that belonging to a profession-based protest organization was important or very important. Half perceived the organization as having some impact on the social work profession in Israel and 9.1% perceived high impact, while 39.9% reported low or no impact. Qualitative findings highlighted a recurring tension between inward-focused professional concerns and outward-facing commitments to broader social justice agendas.

Conclusion and Implications:

The findings suggest that SWD employs strategies of professional activism and policy entrepreneurship, including protests, petitions, lobbying, and dialogue initiatives. As an informal professional organization (Guidi, 2025), it operates at the intersection of civic, professional, and public spheres, creating both opportunities and constraints. In contexts marked by political conflict and democratic threats, social workers are called to move beyond passive alignment with state systems. SWD illustrates one pathway for political engagement that reinforces social work’s ethical commitments and its potential to influence policy during democratic crises. The act of documenting profession-based activism contributes to democratizing society and the profession itself by making visible and suggesting forms of resistance in times of political uncertainty.