Abstract: The production of knowledge in rural social work in China is facing the dilemma of adjustment between professional autonomy and local wisdom under the rural revitalization strategy. The current situation of knowledge production in rural social work in China and its differences from Western knowledge production is expounded by constructing a four-dimensional analysis framework of “factor-acceptance-maturity-sustainability”, and using bibliometrics, and then its underlying logic is revealed. The results show that the production of social work knowledge in rural China has formed four core characteristics: policy-oriented, localized integration, multidisciplinary integration, and practice consciousness-oriented; its core topics focus on targeted poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and localization theoretical adjustment, build a three-dimensional system of “theory-practice-policy”, and continue to expand the scale of knowledge production, highlighting the feelings of family and country. However, the field also faces multiple development difficulties: an effective cross-regional collaboration mechanism has not been established, and the research power in the east and west is imbalanced. The core author group is concentrated and mainly middle-aged scholars, and the innovation vitality is insufficient. Chinese and Western resources are unevenly coordinated, and theoretical originality is weak. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the practical consciousness of rural social work, realize the unity of “proximity” and “whole humanity”, balance policy responsiveness and professional autonomy, and promote the deep integration of technical governance and humanistic care, so as to build an independent knowledge system of rural social work in China.

Key words: rural social work, knowledge production, underlying logic, practice consciousness