Praxis Intervention: Towards a New Critical Social Work Practice

Abstract

Praxis Intervention is a form of participatory action research. Where other forms of participatory action research emphasize the collective modification of the external world, the Praxis intervention model emphasizes working on the Praxis potential (phronesis) of its participants (Madhu 2005). "Praxis Potential" means the "members" potential to reflexively work on their respective "mentalities"; by "participant" it is not just meant the clientele beneficiaries of the praxis intervention project alone, but also the organizers and experts participating in such a project. The Praxis intervention aims at leading its members through a "participant objectivation." The Praxis intervention method prioritizes unsettling the settled mentalities, especially where the settled mindsets prevalent in the social world or individuals is suspected to have sustained or contributed to their suffering or marginality. This paper describes the idea of Praxis intervention in detail.

Keywords: Praxis Intervention