معرفی
Barbara Heron is a Professor in the School of Social Work at York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Her research focuses on critical analyses of power dynamics in global social work, postcolonial theory, and the intersections of race, class, and gender in international development contexts.
- Education: PhD (University of Toronto), MSW (University of Toronto), BA (McGill University)
Her key research areas include the social construction of helping identities, critical race theory, North-South relations of power, and the critique of neo-colonial frameworks in international social work. She challenges dominant narratives around 'global citizenship' and 'development interventions,' emphasizing Southern perspectives to deconstruct power imbalances.
Her recent work critiques neoliberal influences on social work regulation and the devaluation of professional practice. She has published extensively on volunteer tourism, the impacts of Canadian youth abroad programs, and the role of whiteness in development discourses.
Professional roles include editorial advisory positions and leadership in organizations like the Canadian Association for Studies in International Development (CASSW). She actively contributes to curriculum development for global social work education and has led multi-year research projects on learning/volunteer abroad programs.
Dr. Heron’s work interrogates the colonial legacies embedded in international aid frameworks and advocates for epistemic resistance through decolonial praxis in social work practice and education.
