Dr. Dorothee Hölscher is a social work lecturer in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work at The University of Queensland and a research associate with the Department of Social Work & Criminology at the University of Pretoria. Previously, she worked at Griffith University in Australia and the Universities of KwaZulu Natal, and the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Dorothee began her social work education in Germany, followed by the completion of a Master of Social Science (cum laude) and a Ph.D. (by publication) in South Africa. Her practice experience comprises social work with refugees and other cross-border migrants, community development, and child protection.
Dorothee’s research areas are applied ethics (with a focus on justice), anti-oppressive social work theory and practice, and social work with migrants and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Her research skill set comprises a wide range of qualitative and post-qualitative methodologies. To date, she published a total of 40 books and edited collections, book chapters, and scholarly articles; serves as a reviewer for eight local and international journals and presents regularly at local and international conferences.
A co-founder and a longstanding executive member of the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA), Dorothee currently serves on the editorial board of the journal, Ethics & Social Welfare (ESW), and has recently completed - with Profs Richard Hugman from the University of New South Wales and Donna McAuliffe from Griffith University - an edited volume on social work theories and ethics, forthcoming with Springer Nature in June 2023.
Conference Publication: Youth voices: a participatory model for community healing
Subek, Jessica, Azizullah, Mahbooba and Holscher, Dorothee (2023). Youth voices: a participatory model for community healing. 3rd Australia and New Zealand Trauma recovery in refugee resettlement conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 9-11 October 2023.
Book Chapter: The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education
Hölscher, Dorothee, Bozalek, Vivienne and Gray, Mel (2023). The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education. Social Work. (pp. 141-147) London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003178699-27
Book Chapter: Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries
Bozalek, Vivienne and Hӧlscher, Dorothee (2023). Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries. Social Work. (pp. 367-396) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_20
Social Work Theory and Ethics : Ideas in Practice
Hölscher, Dorothee, Hugman, Richard and McAuliffe, Donna eds. (2022). Social Work Theory and Ethics : Ideas in Practice. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0
Higher Education Hauntologies : Living with Ghosts for a Justice-to-come
Bozalek, Vivienne, Zembylas, Michalinos, Motala, Siddique and Holscher, Dorothee eds. (2021). Higher Education Hauntologies : Living with Ghosts for a Justice-to-come. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003058366
Nancy Fraser and Participatory Parity : Reframing Social Justice in South African Higher Education
Bozalek, Vivienne, Hölscher, Dorothee and Zembylas, Michalinos eds. (2020). Nancy Fraser and Participatory Parity : Reframing Social Justice in South African Higher Education. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429055355
The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education
Hölscher, Dorothee, Bozalek, Vivienne and Gray, Mel (2023). The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education. Social Work. (pp. 141-147) London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003178699-27
Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries
Bozalek, Vivienne and Hӧlscher, Dorothee (2023). Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries. Social Work Theory and Ethics. (pp. 1-30) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0_20-1
Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries
Bozalek, Vivienne and Hӧlscher, Dorothee (2023). Reconfiguring Social Work Ethics with Posthuman and Post-anthropocentric Imaginaries. Social Work. (pp. 367-396) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_20
The Ethical Challenge of Populism in Social Work
Hölscher, Dorothee and Clifford, Derek (2023). The Ethical Challenge of Populism in Social Work. Social Work. (pp. 421-443) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_25
The Ideas of Social Work Practice
Hölscher, Dorothee, McAuliffe, Donna and Hugman, Richard (2023). The Ideas of Social Work Practice. Social Work. (pp. 519-531) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_26
Theory and Ethics: Defining the Field
Hugman, Richard, Hölscher, Dorothee and McAuliffe, Donna (2023). Theory and Ethics: Defining the Field. Social Work. (pp. 3-14) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1015-9_1
The Ideas of Social Work Practice
Hölscher, Dorothee, McAuliffe, Donna and Hugman, Richard (2022). The Ideas of Social Work Practice. Social Work Theory and Ethics. (pp. 1-13) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0_26-1
REGIONS OF THE WORLD AND THE COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY
Fronek, Patricia, Smith Rotabi-Casares, Kare Karen, Liang, Jianqiang, Roujanavong, Wanchai, Hun Kim, Myung, Kim, Sungmin, Wismayanti, Yanuar Farida, Mandayam, Gokul, López Peláez, Antonio, Di Rosa, Roberta, Dickens, Jonathan, Neamțu, Nicoleta, Hideg, Mădălina, Fonseca, Claudia, Monico, Carmen, Rondon-Jackson, Renie, Wairire, Gidraph G., Mwende Twikirize, Janestic, Hölscher, Dorothee, Giliomee, Corlie, Abu Sarhan, Taghreed, Badran, Nadia C., Zidan, Tarek, Rotabi, Sareh and Briggs, Lynne (2022). REGIONS OF THE WORLD AND THE COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY. Social Work Inhealth Emergencies: Global Perspectives. (pp. 35-95) Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781003111214-3
The ethical challenge of populism in social work
Hölscher, Dorothee and Clifford, Derek (2022). The ethical challenge of populism in social work. Social work theory and ethics: ideas in practice. (pp. 1-23) edited by Dorothee Hölscher, Richard Hugman and Donna McAuliffe. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0_25-1
Theory and ethics: defining the field
Hugman, Richard, Hölscher, Dorothee and McAuliffe, Donna (2022). Theory and ethics: defining the field. Social work theory and ethics. (pp. 1-12) edited by Dorothee Hölscher, Richard Hugman and Donna McAuliffe. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0_1-1
Bozalek, Vivienne, Zembylas, Michalinos, Motala, Siddique and Hölscher, Dorothee (2021). Introduction. Higher education hauntologies: living with ghosts for a justice-to-come. (pp. 1-10) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003058366-101
Bozalek, Vivienne and Hölscher, Dorothee (2021). Higher education hauntologies and spacetimemattering: response-ability and non-innocence in times of pandemic. Higher education hauntologies: living with ghosts for a justice-to-come. (pp. 171-186) edited by Vivienne Bozalek, Michalinos Zembylas, Siddique Motala and Dorothee Holscher. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge/Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781003058366-11
Woods, Glenn and Hölscher, Dorothee (2021). Return of the posthuman: developing indigenist perspectives for social work at a time of environmental crisis. Post-anthropocentric social work: critical posthuman and new materialist perspectives. (pp. 121-133) edited by Vivienne Bozalek and Bob Pease. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429329982-12
Nancy Fraser’s work and its relevance to higher education
Hölscher, Dorothee and Bozalek, Vivienne (2020). Nancy Fraser’s work and its relevance to higher education. Nancy Fraser and Participatory Parity: Reframing Social Justice in South African Higher Education. (pp. 3-19) edited by Vivienne Bozalek, Dorothee Hölscher and Michalinos Zembylas. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429055355-1
Hölscher, Dorothee, Zembylas, Michalinos and Bozalek, Vivienne (2020). Neoliberalism, coloniality and Nancy Fraser’s contribution to the decolonisation debate in South African higher education. Nancy Fraser and Participatory Parity. (pp. 145-158) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429055355-10
Hölscher, Dorothee and Chiumbu, Sarah (2020). Anti-oppressive community work practice and the decolonization debate: a contribution from the global south. Community Practice and Social Development in Social Work. (pp. 223-242) edited by Sarah Todd and Julie L. Drolet. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-1542-8_2-1
The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education
Hölscher, Dorothee, Bozalek, Vivienne and Gray, Mel (2020). The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education. The Routledge handbook of critical pedagogies for social work. (pp. 245-259) edited by Christine Morley, Phillip Ablett, Carolyn Noble and Stephen Cowden. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781351002042-21
The political is personal: on being, knowing, and doing something about social justice
Hölscher, Dorothee (2016). The political is personal: on being, knowing, and doing something about social justice. Rethinking values and ethics in social work. (pp. 97-112) edited by Richard Hugman and Jan Carter. London, United Kingdom: Macmillan Education/Palgrave.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2011). Social Justice. Handbook of International Social Work: Human Rights, Development, and the Global Profession. (pp. 44-52) Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333619.003.0007
Sewpaul, Vishanthie and Hölscher, Dorothee (2008). Against the odds: Community-based interventions for children in difficult circumstances in post-apartheid South Africa. Revitalising Communities in a Globalising World. (pp. 193-206) Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Bozalek, Vivienne and Hölscher, Dorothee (2022). From imperialism to radical hospitality: propositions for reconfiguring social work towards a justice-to-come. Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development, 34 (1) 8889, 1-17. doi: 10.25159/2415-5829/8889
Taruvinga, Raymond, Hölscher, Dorothee and Lombard, Antoinette (2021). A critical ethics of care perspective on refugee income generation: towards sustainable policy and practice in Zimbabwe’s Tongogara Camp. Ethics and Social Welfare, 15 (1), 36-51. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2021.1877766
Displacement: Historical and Contemporary Responsibilities for Social Work and Human Services
Hölscher, Dorothee and Nipperess, Sharlene (2021). Displacement: Historical and Contemporary Responsibilities for Social Work and Human Services. Ethics and Social Welfare, 15 (1), 1-4. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2021.1881864
Hölscher, Dorothee, Kanamugire, Consolée and Udah, Hyacinth (2020). A matter of lies and death - Necropolitics and the question of engagement with the aftermath of Rwanda’s Genocide. Journal of Gender Studies, 29 (1), 34-48. doi: 10.1080/09589236.2019.1691982
Holscher, Dorothee and Griffith University, Logan Campus, Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia (2019). Peer review (Dorothee Holscher) - The fundamental violence of physiotherapy: Emmanuel Levinas’s critique of ontology and its implications for physiotherapy theory and practice. OpenPhysio Journal. doi: 10.14426/opj/20191203
Experiences of vulnerability and sources of resilience among immigrants and refugees
Udah, Hyacinth, Singh, Parlo, Hölscher, Dorothee and Cartmel, Jennifer (2019). Experiences of vulnerability and sources of resilience among immigrants and refugees. Australasian Review of African Studies, 40 (1), 81-100. doi: 10.22160/22035184/ARAS-2019-40-1/81-100
Caring for justice in a neoliberal university
Holscher, D. (2018). Caring for justice in a neoliberal university. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32 (6), 31-48. doi: 10.20853/32-6-2676
Book Review: Paradoxes in Social Work Practice: Mitigating Ethical Trespass
Hölscher, Dorothee (2017). Book Review: Paradoxes in Social Work Practice: Mitigating Ethical Trespass. Critical Social Work, 18 (1), 87-90. doi: 10.22329/csw.v18i1.5925
Hölscher, Dorothee (2016). Subjectivities of survival: conceptualising just responses to displacement, cross-border migration and structural violence in South Africa. Social Work: A Professional Journal for the Social Worker , 52 (1), 54-72. doi: 10.15270/52-1-479
Kasiram, M. and Hölscher, D. (2015). Understanding the challenges and opportunities encountered by the elderly in urban Kwazulu-Natal, south africa. South African Family Practice, 57 (6), 381-386. doi: 10.1080/20786190.2015.1078154
Assuming Responsibility for Justice in the context of South Africa's Refugee Receiving Regime
Hoelscher, Dorothee, Bozalek, Vivienne G. and Zembylas, Michalinos f (2014). Assuming Responsibility for Justice in the context of South Africa's Refugee Receiving Regime. Ethics and Social Welfare, 8 (2), 187-204. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2014.895402
Hoelscher, Dorothee (2014). Considering Nancy Fraser's Notion of Social Justice for Social Work: Reflections on Misframing and the Lives of Refugees in South Africa. Ethics and Social Welfare, 8 (1), 20-38. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2012.744845
Ethical challenges and human rights in Africa
Hoelscher, Dorothee, Mupedziswa, Rodreck and Hugman, Richard (2014). Ethical challenges and human rights in Africa. Ethics and Social Welfare, 8 (2), 99-100. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2014.895503
Hölscher, Dorothee and Grace Bozalek, Vivienne (2012). Encountering the Other across the Divides: Re-Grounding Social Justice as a Guiding Principle for Social Work with Refugees and Other Vulnerable Groups. British Journal of Social Work, 42 (6), 1093-1112. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcs061
Hölscher, D., Sathiparsad, R. and Mujawamariya, C. (2012). Interpreting refugee women’s life stories: towards a human capabilities framework for social work with cross-border migrants. Social Work Practitioner-Researcher, 24 (1), 48-65.
"Deserving" children, "undeserving" mothers? multiple perspectives on the child support grant
Hölscher, Dorothee, Kasiram, Madhu and Sathiparsad, Reshma (2009). "Deserving" children, "undeserving" mothers? multiple perspectives on the child support grant. Social Work, 45 (1).
International Social Work: Editorial
Sewpaul, Vishanthie and Hölscher, Dorothee (2008). International Social Work: Editorial. International Social Work, 51 (3), 293-296. doi: 10.1177/0020872808090962
Reflections on human rights and professional solidarity: A case study of Eritrea
Hölscher, Dorothee and Berhane, Solomon Y. (2008). Reflections on human rights and professional solidarity: A case study of Eritrea. International Social Work, 51 (3). doi: 10.1177/0020872807088078
Hölscher, Dorothee (2008). The Emperor's new clothes: South Africa's attempted transition to developmental social welfare and social work. International Journal of Social Welfare, 17 (2), 114-123. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00547.x
A postmodern critique of the SACSSP's draft code of ethics
Hölscher, Dorothee (2005). A postmodern critique of the SACSSP's draft code of ethics. Social Work, 41 (3), 237-250.
Youth voices: a participatory model for community healing
Subek, Jessica, Azizullah, Mahbooba and Holscher, Dorothee (2023). Youth voices: a participatory model for community healing. 3rd Australia and New Zealand Trauma recovery in refugee resettlement conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 9-11 October 2023.
The ethical challenge of populism in social work
Hölscher, Dorothee and Clifford, Derek (2022). The ethical challenge of populism in social work . The 2022 ANZSWWER (Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research) Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 10-11 November 2022.
Hölscher, Dorothee and Nipperess, Sharlene (2021). Reconsidering social work's relationship with human rights in the context of a necropolitical ordering of the world: The case of mass displacement and refugee encampment . (Im)materialities of Violence, Birmingham, United Kingdom (Online), 25-27 November 2021.
Reconsidering human rights in the context of mass displacement and refugee encampment
Hölscher, Dorothee and Nipperess, Sharlene (2021). Reconsidering human rights in the context of mass displacement and refugee encampment. The 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference , Online, 11-13 November 2021.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2019). Necropolitics, hauntings, and the aftermath of Rwanda’s genocide: towards an ethics of engagement for a decolonial social work education.. 10th Annual New Materialism Conference on Reconfiguring Higher Education, Cape Town, South Africa, 2-4 December 2019.
Caring for justice in a neoliberal university
Hölscher, Dorothee (2018). Caring for justice in a neoliberal university. The 2018 ANZSWWER (Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research) Symposium, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 20-21 September 2018.
Anti-oppressive community work practice and the decolonisation debate
Hölscher, Dorothee (2017). Anti-oppressive community work practice and the decolonisation debate. International Social Work and Social Development Conference on Decoloniality and Indigenous Knowledge in Education and Practice, Gauteng, South Africa, 8-11 October 2017.
Exclusion, participation, and the decolonisation of social work education in South Africa
Hölscher, Dorothee (2017). Exclusion, participation, and the decolonisation of social work education in South Africa. International Social Work and Social Development Conference on Decoloniality and Indigenous Knowledge in Education and Practice, Gauteng, South Africa, 8-11 October 2017.
Seminar: Does a decolonised profession still need a code of ethics?
Hölscher, Dorothee, Bozalek, Vivienne and Boulton, Amohia (2017). Seminar: Does a decolonised profession still need a code of ethics?. International Social Work and Social Development Conference on Decoloniality and Indigenous Knowledge in Education and Practice, Gauteng, South Africa, 8-11 October 2017.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2016). Social work with cross-border migrants and the limitations of social work’s Global Definition and Statement of Ethical Principles. Ethics and Social Welfare in Hard Times; ESW 10th Anniversary Conference, London, United Kingdom, 1-2 September 2016.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2016). Human rights, social justice and the question of entanglement: Lessons from social work with cross-border migrants in South Africa. The International Social Work and Society Academy (TiSSA): 14th Annual Plenum Conference, Ghent, Belgium, 19-24 August 2016.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2015). Subjectivities of survival: Conceptualising just responses to displacement, cross-border migration and structural violence in South Africa. Social Work and Social evelopment (SWSD), East London, South Africa, 4-7 October 2015.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2012). ‘If I met her tomorrow, I would not even remember her face’: Considering the notion of responsibility in the context of South Africa’s refugee receiving regime. Conference of the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA), White River, South Africa, 14-17 October 2012.
Hölscher, Dorothee (2011). Encountering the Other across the divides: Ethical challenges for social work with cross-border migrants in South Africa. Diversity Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, 20-22 June 2011.
Cross-border migration: implications for social justice
Hölscher, Dorothee (2008). Cross-border migration: implications for social justice. 34th bi-annual Congress of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), Durban, South Africa, 20-24 July 2008.
Towards Social Justice for the Hijra Community
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: