Human rights as an opportunity and challenge for social work in a changing Norwegian welfare state

This article discusses human rights as an opportunity and a challenge for social work in a Norwegian welfare state characterised by transformation and rising inequality. The relationship between social work and human rights is explored theoretically through the discussion of two different imperatives of distribution: sufficiency and equality. To develop an understanding of human rights for social work in a Norwegian and Nordic context, the article creates an illustrative framework that build on a basic continuum between sufficiency and equality (Dean, H. [2015].Social rights and human welfare. Routledge; Moyn, S. [2018].Not enough: Human Rights in an unequal world. Harvard University Press). The continuum is adapted by Bonnycastles (2011. Social justice along a continuum: A relational illustrative model.Social Service Review,85(2), 267-295) Continuum of Relational Social Justice. The aim of the article is to articulate theoretically what it means to say that social work is a human rights profession in a Nordic and Norwegian welfare state in transformation and to consider the implication of such a perspective for the practice and research of social work. The article suggests that human rights must be seen in relation to the possibility of moving society closer to social equality.