Sophia Sarantakos

Prior to entering academia, Dr. Sarantakos was a social work practitioner for ten years. During that time, they developed and directed the first jail diversion program in the state of Louisiana, housed in the New Orleans public defenders office. This professional experience, along with their personal experiences with school pushout, the juvenile legal punishment system, and the incarceration of a loved one, helped lead them to a politic focused on root causes.

Dr. Sarantakos' current research focuses on contributing to the advancement of community-based approaches to harm and need, as well as exploring the future of social change work. They are questioning how the "profession" of social work can directly and effectively connect to the work of large-scale social movements and advance their aims. Dr. Sarantakos is developing ideas for how social work education can be altered to more readily prepare students to support social movements, not only in moments of social upheaval, but in preparation for them. This inquiry also includes thinking through how practitioners and social service organizations can “de-professionalize” and leverage their positions and resources to propel progress.

Dr. Sarantakos co-facilitates the Abolitionist Social Change Collective (ASCC), which provides a virtual space for people engaged in all forms of (un)paid social welfare and social change work to:

(1) Build a community of people who exchange ideas and build abolition-focused collaborations;

(2) Advance non-carceral approaches to harm, accountability, and well-being;

(3) Work toward a more solidarity-focused form of social change work.

This collective holds a monthly meeting space. To plug in, email abolitionist-sw-sig+subscribe@googlegroups.com.