Anti-Oppressive and Ecosocial Approaches to Poverty: Social Work in Community Energy and Housing Initiatives in Italy

Poverty today is increasingly multidimensional, shaped not only by economic deprivation but also by environmental inequalities and exclusion from sustainable resources. This chapter critically examines the potential of integrating anti-oppressive social work (AOSW) and ecosocial work (ESW) to address these intersecting challenges. Through the lens of community-based initiatives, such as energy communities in Italy and community housing cooperatives, the chapter explores how social workers can foster collective agency, reduce energy and housing poverty, and promote ecosocial justice. While AOSW highlights the structural roots of poverty and resists individualized explanations, ESW expands the focus to the environmental dimensions of deprivation and sustainability. The chapter argues that tackling poverty in the context of poli-crisis requires integrated approaches that combine social justice, empowerment, and sustainable transitions, contributing to the handbook’s focus on transformative social work and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1 (No Poverty).