‘Indigenization’ and knowledge development: Extending the debate

Abstract

This article attempts to extend the discourse on ‘indigenization’ from a marginal movement in social work to chart its course as a field of knowledge development that uses knowledge, training and resources that is particular to a culture and in which increasing numbers of leading researchers creatively pursue culturally and locally relevant research. It argues for the development of truly indigenized and culturally appropriate social work knowledges that are free from the restrictions and expectations of positivistic western worldviews.