Summary
Contents
Subject index
The Handbook of Community Practice is the first volume in this field, encompassing community development, organizing, planning, and social change, and the first community practice text that provides in-depth treatment of globalization—including its impact on communities in the United States and in international development work. The Handbook is grounded in participatory and empowerment practice including social change, social and economic development, feminist practice, community-collaboratives, and engagement in diverse communities. It utilizes the social development perspective and employs analyses of persistent poverty, policy practice, and community research approaches as well as providing strategies for advocacy and social and legislative action.
Development Theory and Community Practice
Development Theory and Community Practice
Effective community practice depends not only on professional skills but also on knowledge and values. Knowledge provides a testable basis for action, whereas values define desirable goals and the best ways to attain them. Both knowledge and values are, in turn, influenced by social science theory. Theory shapes conceptions of community life and, in its normative form, articulates the value assumptions of community practice strategies.
Despite the importance of theory in community practice, it remains neglected. Although community practitioners and scholars make frequent reference to concepts such as social change, participation, social justice, development, and self-determination, the complex ideas attending these terms have not been adequately debated. These terms are frequently used in a perfunctory way, and the theoretical basis for community practice is still relatively unsophisticated.
An example of this problem is the concept of development, a term widely used in community practice not only in the Global South but in industrial nations as well. Although community development is now a well-established form of community practice, its theoretical assumptions need to be more closely examined to ensure that the knowledge base for community development is sound and that its value assumptions are clarified. This is not merely an academic indulgence. An understanding of development theories and the ways these theories have been implemented will enhance the effectiveness of practice.
This chapter begins by tracing the conceptual roots of the idea of development and how this idea has been articulated over the last two centuries in economic, political, and social thought. Next, the relevance of development theories to community development practice is considered. Although community development has been influenced by a variety of analytic approaches over the years, the role of theory in shaping community development strategies is seldom made explicit. By examining the normative implications of competing theoretical frameworks, it may be possible to forge a sound theoretical basis for community development practice. This chapter concludes with a discussion of developmentalism, which, the authors believe, is a viable alternative to the currently popular neoliberal strategies, the intellectual offspring of both European classical liberalism (Drake, 2001) and the more recent phenomena of Reaganism and Thatcherism, which now characterize community development in many parts of the world.
Development and Development Theory
The notion of development is rooted in ancient beliefs about the nature of social change (Nisbet, 1980). For the Chinese, change was cyclical, finding expression in a never-ending series of progressive improvements and retrogressive declines. For the ancient Greeks and Hebrews and today's Christians, historical change is viewed as a regression from an original state of social perfection. Humanity, the Greeks believed, had descended into its present lamentable condition from a long-lost Golden Age. The advent of early Greek philosophy, with its cumulative focus on understanding the world from rational and empirical bases, altered traditional mythological views and provided the foundation for Western development of the natural and social sciences. Aristotle's work, particularly on the construct of teleology, embodies a sense of progression, growth, and progress. For Jews and Christians, history involved the fall from a virtuous state of grace that was characterized by the Garden of Eden, and although medieval philosophy's conception of building the “city of God” on earth promoted ideas of social intervention by the religious orders, traditional practice focused on preparation for the afterlife. However, for most of the world's people during their earliest days, social time was marked by a sense of sameness.
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