Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I discuss the ways in which social workers in Serbia deal with the current state reforms of their work, which leave them in a vacuum of "false transparency" and force them to "fake" either the bureaucratic procedures or "fieldwork" at their discretion.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I deal with the understanding of work, state, and NGO assistance at the Center for Social Work in a Serbian town. Drawing from my fieldwork research among social workers in a Serbian town, I discuss the ways in which they navigate state and council regulations, as well as increasing NGO assistance, in order to do their jobs. I argue that Michael Lipsky's famous argument that "street-level public service" everywhere embodies a paradoxical reality of treating all citizens equally regarding their claims on government, while at the same time being responsive to the individual cases when appropriate, has a special postsocialist twist. Postsocialist transformation of welfare services in accordance with the present-day global forms of flexible governance proved to be contradictory for social workers. They on one hand, have been pressured by formalized procedures of their work, while, on the other (hand), have to rely on personal resources and connections in order to deliver their service. This reform went hand in hand with the increasing involvement of the civil sector in the state organized social work, which social workers usually describe as "pretentious" and disconnected from the needs of the local community. Put together, those reforms produce a persistent feeling of abandonment where social workers find themselves in a vacuum of "false transparency" and force them to "fake" either the bureaucratic procedures or "fieldwork" at their discretion. Still, most social workers live under the persistent impression of professional shortfall caused by the current state reforms and without a clear solution in a nearby future.