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.
Multicultural Community Practice Strategies and Intergroup Empowerment
Multicultural Community Practice Strategies and Intergroup Empowerment
In 1999, Peggye Dilworth-Anderson made a keynote address at the National Council on Family Relations Conference that helped set the stage for understanding the changes experienced by women of color, their families, and their communities over the last two decades. She asserted that our conceptualizations of families of color were based on outdated economic, political, and social analyses that were no longer relevant. This being the case, it follows that the practice methods based on these constructs are outdated as well. To address our current and emerging context, the following questions must be addressed:
- What types of political, social, and economic forces do communities of color face in this new millennium?
- Is there still a role for multicultural community practice strategies, or are those that have been developed for the entire population, irrespective of gender and race or ethnicity, sufficient?
- What role does interracial participation play in the ability of communities and groups to organize themselves and engage in empowering outcomes?
- Are the roles social workers played in community building in the past sufficient to meet the challenges communities of color face in the coming decades?
- What lessons have we learned, and how might we apply these to enhance intergroup empowerment?
These questions set the stage for challenges that face community organizers working with multicultural communities. We begin this chapter on multicultural community practice strategies and intergroup empowerment by outlining some of the economic, social, political, gender, and policy changes that have affected communities of color in the last two decades. We next address the historical bases of multicultural community building and organizing, social workers' roles in supporting the development of these models, and how this multicultural perspective can inform community-organizing strategies. Finally, we outline some of the principles we have learned about effective multicultural community practice. Two examples of ways in which these lessons have been implemented to build communities within and between communities of color and other communities will illuminate the move from theory to practice and application.
Our Current Context for Work with Diverse Communities
Over the past 30 years, the social work profession has paid increasing attention to issues of oppression, diversity, and social justice. This focus arose in relation to civil rights struggles and the development of community organization as a focus in schools of social work (Iglehart & Becerra, 1995; Rothman, 1999). This concern continues to be relevant because our social context is becoming increasingly multiracial, multicultural, and multiethnic, with growing economic inequality and stratification by gender, race, and ethnicity. Current social movements to eliminate affirmative action, eliminate universal income supports, and restrict immigration and benefits to immigrants and their children are just a few examples of issues related to multiculturalism that community organizers must address. Although community organizers are often at the forefront of dealing with issues of racism, ethnocentrism, and other inequities, methods for working from a multicultural perspective have only recently being documented and evaluated. It is impossible to be a social worker today without confronting and addressing issues of diversity and social justice. In our quest to develop culturally relevant or culturally competent programs and services, social workers at all levels have sometimes romanticized or idealized communities of color. Although we must understand and build on the strengths that exist in communities, we must not overlook the negative impacts of economic inequality, sexism, and racism. Romanticizing communities of color can lead to desensitization regarding the realities of current social and economic experiences in the United States.
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