Tagore And Social Work: A Universal Inspiration

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Dr. Joëlle Libois has a doctorate in educational sciences and since 2011 has been Director of the School of Social Work (HES-SO) in Geneva. She received initial training in social work and also specialized in clinical approach to social work. Her professional experience in the fields of social education and community development has led her to focus on relational and affective dimensions, and the notion of presence which is the foundation of social work. Passionate about India for over thirty years, she has developed educational and sustainable development projects in several states of India, and has a major interest in the thought and works of Rabindranath Tagore. Today, a partnership has been established between the Social Work Department of Visva-Bharati University and the Higher School of Social Work in Geneva, Switzerland.

Kumkum Bhattacharya, Professor, Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati has been teaching since 1979. She has wide experience of research among tribes of eastern India, especially the Santals and other minority communities. One of her areas of interest is culture-personality studies and the various ways in which minorities and marginalized communities constitute the plurality of Indian civilization. She is also interested in understanding the ways in which minorities and marginalized communities adjust and adapt to plural situations. The other abiding area of academic interest is revisiting Tagore's ideas of Rural Reconstruction and the role of a university in extension activities. She has recently published Rabindranath Tagore: Adventure of Ideas and Innovative Practices in Education, Springer International (2014). She may be contacted at [email protected] and her profile may be accessed www. visva-bharati.ac.in.

Dr. Prasanta Kumar Ghosh is currently a Professor in the Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati University. He has served the Department of PM & IR, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai as a Reader and Principal of the Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Visva-Bharati. He published books and articles in journals at national and international levels. He is a proactive social work educator, researcher and activist.

He is a Fulbright Fellow, USIEF, on Academic Administration. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Dominican University, Chicago, USA and School of Social Work, University of West Switzerland, Geneva. Apart from teaching and research he is engaged in community development by organizing rural entrepreneurs through social entrepreneurship organizations since last 30 years to fight against poverty encountered by the rural poor.

This primer on Tagore's village reconstruction experiment; formally began in 1921 in rural Bengal where Tagore founded his University Visva-Bharati (1918), is designed to provide insight to students, teachers and practitioners across the world with social issues and community development with the deep belief that all human problems are shared. Tagore remains relevant in the light of the participatory and equitable social work practices that cut across all vectors that divide humanity.

This volume integrates the sensibilities of the well-known poet and his lesser- known engagement in developing professional social work principles and practices.

**Contents and Sample Pages**