ABSTRACT
Jane Addams confronted the most basic and critical social issues of her time, including labor, racism, immigration, poverty and inequality, women’s rights, and child protection. In her settlement house work, Addams was influenced by various disciplines including philosophy, education, and sociology. She and the educational reformer John Dewey shared a commitment to creating conditions that allow people to take an active role in their own development, participate in community, and work in solidarity with others. Addams and Dewey believed that methods of education and social welfare should give people full access to their inherent capacities, rather than shaping them to accommodate society. This is as relevant today as it was in the early 1900s, considering the increasing systematic marginalization of people based on race, gender, and class. Social work educators and students of social work can draw upon Addams’ work to confront, deconstruct, and resist current trends that favor practices oriented toward enabling individuals to adjust and cope with current, oppressive structures. This chapter will review her contributions and their implications for social work education and practice today. Areas of focus include the philosophy of pragmatism, a consideration of the relationship between macro and micro, and the value of interdisciplinary work.
