Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis
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Email
v.ioakimidis@essex.ac.uk -
Location
2S2.5.11, Southend Campus
Profile
Biography
I am the Founding Professor of Social Work, founder and former Director of the Centre for Social Work (now known as 'Social Work and Social Justice Divison'). In the past, I have worked at Durham University, the University of Nicosia- Cyprus, Zuyd University- Netherlands and Liverpool University. I qualified as a social worker in Greece and completed my PhD at the University of Liverpool. Since 2017, I have been the Chair of the Global Education Commission of the International Federation of Social Workers. Through this role, I work closley with social work educators and practitioners internationally, towards developing, updating and implementing the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training. I currently co-edit the British Journal of Social Work (Oxford University Press and BASW) and act as a steering committee member of the Social Work Action Network (SWAN), a radical social work organization that brings together social work practitioners, service users, academics and students united in their commitment to promote social justice and defend welfare rights. Most of my research revolves around the broad theme of Social Work in Extremis, an exploration of social work practice in the context of unpredictable and extraordinary political, social, economic, and environmental change. Social Work, a socially constructed and politically shaped activity, has been subjected to the same contradictions, changes and challenges as society itself. Despite the simplified mainstream narratives, it is important to appreciate that the evolution of social work has been dialectic and not linear; internal and externall to the profession contradictions and tensions constantly shape its nature. The most defining and fundamental tension is this between the "social care and social control dimensions of the profession. The overall question I have been trying to answer through my research is "how does our existing knowledge of social work evolve when established limits and well-defined boundaries are stretched towards the ‘unknown’. How would our current understanding of social work change if prevailing parameters were pushed to extremity”. Two specific areas have, so far, attracted my research attention: a) social work practice in times of conflict (historical and current) and b) grassroots welfare movements in the context of extraordinary financial and political crises. Geographically, I have primarily focused on the regions of Southern Europe and Latin America. My epistemological approach is influenced by critical social theory and my overall view on social work follows a radical analysis.
Research and professional activities
Conferences and presentations
Confronting Social Wok’s persistent global challenges in a world “out of joint”
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Global Social Work after the pandemic. Rethinking the profession., Puerto Rico, 12/11/2021
Continuing the Conversation: The IASW response to the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.
Invited presentation, Revitalising child protection and welfare social work: innovations, hope, and community, Cork, Ireland, 22/10/2021
Keynote presentation title: Social Work, violence and resistance; a tale of two professions.
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development 2018, Convention Centre Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 6/7/2018
Teaching and supervision
Current supervision
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Social Work
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 20/12/2023
Degree subject: Clinical Psychology (D Clin Psych)
Degree type: Professional Doctorate
Awarded date: 9/11/2022
Publications
Journal articles (48)
Dedotsi, S., Ioakimidis, V. and Teloni, D-D., La crisis de los Refugiados en Grecia: El desarrollo del racism. Respuestas antirracistas e implicaciones para el Trabajo Social. Comunitania. Revista Internacional de Trabajo Social y Ciencias Sociales (17), 59-59
Ioakimidis, V., Reflexões sobre a história. Libertas. 19 (02), 270-285
Ioakimidis, V., neocleous, G., Zachariades, A., Ozada, A. and Erzeybek, B., (2024). Working for peace. Conflict and social work practice in the divided Cyprus. International Social Work. 67 (1), 166-179
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2024). Protecting Social Workers as Human Rights Defenders in a Dangerous World. The British Journal of Social Work. 54 (1), 1-2
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2024). From Social Work Internationalisation to Social Work Internationalism: Reflections from the Joint Social Work and Social Development Conference in Panama. The British Journal of Social Work. 54 (3), 843-845
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2024). Editorial: Preparing for Social Work Practice. The British Journal of Social Work. 54 (6), 2331-2335
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2023). Neither ‘Neo-Luddism’ nor ‘Neo-Positivism’; Rethinking Social Work’s Positioning in the Context of Rapid Technological Change. The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (2), 693-697
Baxter, V., Speed, E., Ioakimidis, V. and Ross, M., (2023). Lessons learnt while integrating services for children: qualitative interviews with professional stakeholders. BMC Health Services Research. 23 (1), 323-
Maglajlic, RA., Thomas, E. and Ioakimidis, V., (2023). Editorial: Voice and Influence of People with Lived Experience in Social Work Research and Publishing—Taking Stock and Planning Future Actions. The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (4), 1941-1944
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, AR., (2023). Revitalising Communities of Shared Knowledge in the Wake of a Global Crisis. The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (5), 2475-2477
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2023). Editorial. The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (6), 3013-3014
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2023). Finding a Path to Social Justice within Fractured Belonging in Pressurised Environments, Facing Circumstances That No Longer Feel ‘Exceptional’. The British Journal of Social Work. 53 (8), 3543-3545
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2022). The Deliberately Silenced and Preferably Unheard, Part Two—Discriminatory Epistemic Injustice and Distributive Injustice in Social Work. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (1), 1-5
Ioakimidis, V., O’Connell, L., Baxter, V., Chard, K., Speed, E. and White, G., (2022). Challenge and opportunity: Making sense of the ‘first lockdown’ experience of families with young children and health and social care practitioners in Southend-on-Sea (the United Kingdom). International Social Work. 65 (3), 406-420
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2022). Editorial—A Time Capsule of Hope for the Future of Social Work at the Time of Crisis, Conflict, Injustice and Change. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (3), 1189-1191
Ioakimidis, V., Neocleous, G., Zachariades, A., Ozada, A. and Erzeybek, B., (2022). ‘Educating for peace’: conflict, division and social work education in Cyprus. European Journal of Social Work. 25 (4), 696-707
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlić, RA., (2022). Social Work Responses to Armed and Political Conflict. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (4), 1801-1804
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2022). Editorial: A Call to Action—Voice and Influence of People with Experiences of Social and Health Care in Social Work Knowledge and Social Services. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (5), 2431-2436
Ioakimidis, V., Teloni, D., Marakgozakis, A., Mourati, F., Papadopoulou, E., Papazoglou, A., Psyrraki, MA. and Rizopoulou, L., (2022). Rethinking social work supervision: is a ‘radical supervision’ model possible?. Critical and Radical Social Work. 10 (3), 405-421
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2022). Global Inequality, Failed Systems and the Need for a Paradigm Shift. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (2), 605-608
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2022). Social Work’s Contribution towards an Eco-Social World; the People’s Charter. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (6), 3073-3077
(2022). Editors’ Note—Thank You to Reviewers. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (8), 5132-5136
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2022). Social Work Reflections on a ‘World out of Joint’. The British Journal of Social Work. 52 (8), 4475-4476
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2021). Post-Pandemic Recovery Requires ‘More and Better’ Mental Health Services. The British Journal of Social Work. 51 (3), 791-793
Ana Maglajlic, R. and Ioakimidis, V., (2021). The Deliberately Silenced and the Preferably Unheard—Participation, Power and Knowledge Creation in Social Work Learning, Doing, and Research. The British Journal of Social Work. 51 (2), 385-388
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2021). Time for a Well-Deserved Tribute to Social Work’s Research Resilience and a Call for a Long Overdue Debate. The British Journal of Social Work. 51 (1), 1-2
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2021). Editorial: Safety and Risk, Blame and Change—in Whose Name and with What Consideration of Local, National, and International Contexts of Social Work Practice?. The British Journal of Social Work. 51 (7), 2277-2281
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2021). The fire last time: the ‘reconceptualisation’ radical social work movement in Latin America (1965–75). Critical and Radical Social Work. 9 (1), 3-4
Ioakimidis, V. and Sookraj, D., (2021). Global standards for social work education and training. International Social Work. 64 (2), 161-174
Maglajlic, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2021). Social Work and the Quest for Environment Justice; a Call to Action. The British Journal of Social Work. 51 (8), 2869-2871
Ioakimidis, V., (2021). Social work in the global neoliberal context: solidarity and resistance from a radical perspective. Propuestas Críticas en Trabajo Social. 1 (1), 26-38
Ioakimidis, V. and Trimikliniotis, N., (2020). Making Sense of Social Work’s Troubled Past: Professional Identity, Collective Memory and the Quest for Historical Justice. The British Journal of Social Work. 50 (6), 1890-1908
Maglajlić, RA. and Ioakimidis, V., (2020). Editorial: New Beginnings and Enduring Concerns—Inequalities, Social Justice and Understanding of Structural Issues in Social Work Practice, Education and Knowledge Production. The British Journal of Social Work. 50 (7), 1937-1941
Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2020). Editorial: Black Lives Matter, Biopolitics and the Social Work Response. The British Journal of Social Work. 50 (6), 1647-1651
Campbell, J., Ioakimidis, V. and Maglajlic, RA., (2019). Social work for critical peace: A comparative approach to understanding social work and political conflict. European Journal of Social Work. 66 (2), 1073-1084
Giannou, D. and Ioakimidis, V., (2019). ‘Neither invisible nor abnormal!’ Exploring the invisibility and pathologisation of LGBT people in the Greek National Health System. Critical Social Policy. 40 (3), 370-388
Harrop, D. and Ioakimidis, V., (2018). Practising social work in a ‘stateless state’; an exploration of the views, experiences and practice of children and family social workers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. European Journal of Social Work. 21 (5), 724-736
Ioakimidis, V., (2018). Domesticating radicalism or radicalising domestic politics? A reply to Trimikliniotis. Global Discourse. 8 (2), 321-324
Dominelli, L. and Ioakimidis, V., (2017). The local–global nexus in social work education and practice. International Social Work. 60 (2), 265-270
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2017). "Popular" Social Work In Extremis: Two case studies on collective welfare responses to social crisis situations. Social theory, Empirics, Policy and Practice. 13 (2016), 117-132
Dominelli, L. and Ioakimidis, V., (2016). The Challenges of Realising Social Justice in 21 st Century Social Work. International Social Work. 59 (6), 693-696
Ioakimidis, V. and Dominelli, L., (2016). The challenges of dignity and worth for all: Social work perspectives. International Social Work. 59 (4), 435-437
Ioakimidis, V., (2015). The two faces of Janus; Rethinking social work in the context of conflict.. Social Dialogue. 10 (10)
Ioakimidis, V., Santos, CC. and Herrero, IM., (2014). Reconceptualizing social work in times of crisis: An examination of the cases of Greece, Spain and Portugal. International Social Work. 57 (4), 285-300
Ioakimidis, V., Maria Ines, M. and Clara, S., (2014). Reconceptualizando el Travajo Social en Europa Del Sur; El retorno de la política “en tiempos de malestares” Servicios Sociales y Política Social. Servicios Sociales y Política Social. 2 (10), 11-24
Martinez Herrero, MI., Ioakimidis, V. and Cruz Santos, C., (2014). Reconceptualizando el trabajo social en Europa del sur: El retorno de la política “en tiempos de malestares”. Servicios Sociales y Política Social. XXXI (106), 11-24
Ioakimidis, V., Yanardağ, U., Bennett, CF. and Teloni, D., (2013). Austerity and social work in Europe: listening to the voices of resistance. Critical and Radical Social Work. 1 (2), 253-261
Ioakimidis, V., (2011). Expanding imperialism, exporting expertise: International social work and the Greek project, 1946—74. International Social Work. 54 (4), 505-519
Books (5)
Ioakimidis, V., Social Work for Social Justice (in Greek). Ion Publishers
Ioakimidis, V. and Wyllie, A., (2023). Social Work's Histories of Complicity and Resistance A Tale of Two Professions. Policy Press. 1447364287. 9781447364283
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2020). Social Work and the COVID-19 Pandemic International Insights. Policy Press. 1447360362. 9781447360360
Ferguson, I., Ioakimidis, V. and Lavalette, M., (2018). Global social work in a political context radical perspectives. Policy Press. 1447322673. 9781447322672
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2011). Social work in extremis: Lessons for social work internationally. Policy Press. 1847427189. 9781847427182
Book chapters (11)
Ioakimidis, V., Social Work in Global Context – Reflections on a Rapidly Changing Profession. In: Social Work Case Analysis; Global Perspectives. Editors: Lotko, M., . Riga Stradins University Publications
Ioakimidis, V. and Wyllie, A., (2023). Learning From the Past To Shape the Future: Uncovering Social Work’s Histories of Complicity and Resistance. In: Social Work's Histories of Complicity and Resistance A Tale of Two Professions. Policy Press. 3- 28. 1447364287. 9781447364283
Martinez Herrero, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2020). Las “historias oscuras” del trabajo social y su importancia desde el enfoque de derechos humanos. In: Los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible desde una perspectiva de los Derechos Humanos, el Trabajo Social y la Comunicación. Editors: Herranz de la Casa, JM. and Gómez Ciriano, EJ., . Tirant lo Blanch. 185- 206. 9788413782089
Ioakimidis, V. and Trimikliniotis, N., (2019). Imperialism, colonialism and a Marxist epistemology of 'critical peace'. In: The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work. Editors: Webb, S., . Routledge International Handbooks. 560- 571. 1138578436. 9781138578432
Ioakimidis, V. and Trimikliniotis, N., (2019). Social Work and the Cyprus Problem: The Challenges of Reconciliation in the De Factor Divided and Crisis-Ridden Societies. In: International Perspectives on Social Work and Political Conflict. Editors: Duffy, J., Campbell, J. and Tosone, C., . 1138557307. 9781138557307
Ioakimidis, V. and Dora Dimitra, T., (2019). Reflections on the development, ideology and practice of anti-racist social work in Greece.. In: Anti-Racist Social Work; International Perspectives. Editors: Singh, G. and Masocha, S., . Red Globe Press. 1352008165. 9781352008166
Ioakimidis, V., (2015). Neocolonialism and Social Work. In: International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier. 456- 461. 9780080970875
Ioakimidis, V., (2011). Conclusion: Social work in extremis - some general conclusions. In: Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally. 167- 171
Hinestroza, C. and Ioakimidis, V., (2011). In search of emancipatory social work practice in contemporary Colombia: Working with the despalzados in Bogota. In: Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally. 81- 92
Ioakimidis, V., (2011). Welfare under warfare: The Greek struggle for emancipatory social welfare (1940-44). In: Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally. 115- 132
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V., (2011). International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective. In: Radical Social Work Today: Social Work at the Crossroads. 135- 152
Reports and Papers (1)
O'Connell, L., Baxter, V., Ioakimidis, V. and Speed, E., The impact of COVID-19 on families and services in Southend
Grants and funding
2022
Development of Research Group focussed on Critical Public Health and Social Care Policy
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
2021
Exploring opportunities for innovation and impact in improving outcomes for children and families. Mid and South Essex Health Care Partnership (MSEHCP)
A BETTER START SOUTHEND
Summative Evaluation of the A Better Start Southend programme
Southend Borough Council
2020
NIHR CRN Eastern Social Care Research Readiness Project
National Institute for Health Research
NIHR CRN Eastern Social Care Research Readiness Project
National Institute for Health Research
NIHR CRN Eastern Social Care Research Readiness Project
National Institute for Health Research
Knowledge, Research and Evaluation Strategy - A Better Start Southend
A BETTER START SOUTHEND
Evaluation of the YMCA project in Southend: 'Our Voice, Our Passions, Our Future'
Southend YMCA
NIHR CRN Eastern Social Care Research Readiness Project
National Institute for Health Research
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