Resisting politics of authoritarian populism during COVID-19, reclaiming democracy and narrative justice: Centering critical thinking in social work

Authoritarian populism that fosters deep hate of ‘Others’ and a desire for obedience and order, has attacked the fundamental principles of social work and democracy. During the global health crisis, another global pandemic – xeno or racism – is evoked to corroborate authoritarian populism. We critically analyze the dynamics of populism that shift the focus from ‘people’ to ‘problems’ and how it has been intensified during COVID-19. Using narrative justice as a guiding framework, we invite social workers to critically reflect on how this politics has impacted marginalized populations and injuries done to democracy and how social workers can contribute constructing social justice narratives.