As the editors of the International Social Work journal, it is our duty to look into the nature of social work, or at least encourage the discussion and debate on it. When we explore the nature of social work, we need to identify and clarify the concept, content, context and construction of the meaning of social work practice locally and globally.

Let us ask a simple but basic question: Why social work? We believe that social work comes from values: it is a value-based profession, it strives for preserving and pursuing the humanistic values, and it is supported by professional values. However, when we talk about values, we need to be clear about what kinds of values we are talking about. Are they personal, professional, organizational, social, political or spiritual values? Different values exist at the same time, but they are not the same. Sometimes, there are tensions and even conflicts with one another. The journey to how we have come to have particular values is also important to acknowledge. Indeed, the same values can exist with different epistemological standpoints.