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doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst043pmid: N/A
This article proposes a paradigm shift regarding the conceptualization of American urban areas and its challenges, and subsequent policy dialogue from a social justice framework to a human security framework. This shift posits that a human security framework is a more appropriate and beneficial theoretical perspective for successfully addressing the challenges of America's urban spaces, and subsequent policy development in comparison with a social justice perspective. This proposed shift is based on three premises: (i) the plight of those living in American urban areas represents a human security crisis; (ii) a human security framework provides clear goals, objectives and strategies to federal, state and local governments to address the human security crisis of American urban areas and (iii) the utilization of a human security framework emphasizes the Principle of Humanity as opposed to the Principle of Justice. A discussion of the rationale for each of these premises is presented.
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst041pmid: N/A
This article addresses the neglected topic of community in relation to intimate partner abuse (IPA). We observe that in discourse about IPA, ‘community’ is generally conceptualized either to refer to professionals working in the community or to minority ethnic communities, whereby ‘community’ is portrayed as an oppressive entity which sanctions violence against women. Neither of these uses addresses the victim or perpetrator's informal social networks. We argue that more research is needed to examine how communities of all kinds challenge or support IPA, without resorting to the polarization of ‘community’ as either entirely benign or entirely dangerous. Using data from an ethnographic study of an ethnically diverse community in the north of England, we argue that ‘community’ is used to construct responses to IPA in diverse, nuanced ways, which should inform efforts to build intolerance of such violence.
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst057pmid: N/A
This article is an attempt to address what we consider to be a widespread loss of confidence in the purpose, politics and practice of community-based educational work. It is informed by our contact with a professional field that is increasingly beleaguered by managerialist imperatives and in which democratic engagement has become increasingly compromised. Although focussed on the UK, we are confident that the experience we describe will be familiar in many other national contexts. Our purpose here is to re-engage with a significant historical tradition of theory and practice which has been largely neglected, and which we believe offers a rich resource for renegotiating the relationship between those forms of adult education and community development with a particular interest in furthering democratic life. In order to develop the argument, we will concentrate on the critical confluence of democratic participation in public policy and the social purpose tradition of adult education, as expressed in two key policy documents from the broadly social democratic era in UK politics which were significant in creating the professional legitimacy for community-based educational practice. We then selectively review three broad pedagogical models that have been historically influential and go on to explore the idea of engagement in three related ways: professional, pedagogical and political.
Steiner, Artur; Markantoni, Marianna
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst042pmid: N/A
Enhancing inclusion and self-reliance at community level is gaining ground in policy terms, due – in part – to the need to increase the efficiency of public spend, associated with the global financial crisis. Within Scotland, this shift is manifested through multiple policy and community interventions seeking to enhance resilience of communities. Measuring community resilience remains challenging as there is a lack of practical tools and assessment methods to capture aspects of ‘change’. The research presented here is based on the ‘Capacity for Change’ programme, which, through community engagement and empowerment, seeks to enhance the capacity of rural places and develop inclusive communities. The paper presents (i) an evaluation model for measuring community resilience and (ii) empirical findings that derive from deploying the model in a real-life scenario. Based on 155 face-to-face interviews with inhabitants from rural communities, resilience is revealed as being multi-scalar and interdependent, indicating the importance of ‘unpacking’ resilience by exploring different levels of its social and economic components. The findings indicate the significance of inter-connectivity of local and regional, and those less and more resilient areas. In addition, it shows that locations with more diversified services and resources are reported by their residents as being more resilient.
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst055pmid: N/A
What makes one community survive an economic downturn, whilst others collapse? What gives one individual the ability to transcend a personal tragedy, whilst others hit the street? Many authors write about the importance of networks and social capital; this article explores the concept of agency, considered an a priori condition, at the individual level, for the mobilization of social capital and network formation.
Fung, Kwok Kin; Hung, Suet Lin
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst051pmid: N/A
In this study, the authors explored the relevance of social capital and strategies to build it for community development in a deprived community, Tin Shui Wai North (TSWN), in Hong Kong. The findings from focus-group interviews with social workers who were involved in eleven community development projects in TSWN revealed that social workers have taken social capital as a significant resource to be developed. The central focus of the projects, however, has been on bonding social capital targeting to meet the tangible needs of the community. The development of bridging social capital was limited by intensive community conflicts across racial groups, and project staff showed less awareness of the significance of linking social capital. The study also indicated that the conceptions of social capital upheld by participating social workers were mainly of a consensual approach, and the civic orientation was rather limited. Diverse strategies have been employed for building social capital in the community while serving different target groups. Social workers, however, have not been sensitive to the possible repressive dimensions of social capital, nor have thoroughly examined the concept of social capital when they applied it. The sustainability of social capital which has rarely been discussed in published studies remained the core and persistent concern. Based on the findings, the authors draw implications on developing sustaining social capital for community development.
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst049pmid: N/A
This article presents a case study of a regeneration programme which explored ways in which residents involved in the programme exerted influence over local decision-making for public services. The participation literature has extensively documented constraints on resident empowerment; this article explores the opportunities for resident influence within this context of limitations. The study employed a form of network analysis to conceptualize the regeneration partnership as a network and to explore the ways in which individuals adopted roles as ‘network brokers’ which facilitated resident influence. Institutional arrangements of the regeneration partnership were designed to promote participation through formal meetings but resident influence also occurred through network brokers in both formal and informal peripheral network spaces, thereby representing an opportunity for resident influence over and above formal participation arrangements. If this type of central–peripheral network structure and brokering is a normal pattern for participation, then the implication here is that although institutional arrangements and numbers of residents participating are important, we should also pay attention to how individuals are networked, because this seems to have implications for resident influence. This was something of an ideal case, given the comparatively benign environment for participation in the case study area, and influence for the majority of residents remained limited overall, but it points to the importance of key individuals in local participatory initiatives, their location in networks and their ‘brokering’ work in empowering local communities, which may have applicability in other contexts.
doi: 10.1093/cdj/bst053pmid: N/A
Although coalition-building inevitably includes learning processes, not many studies pay attention to exploring them together. This ethnographic case study investigates the coalition-building and learning of activists who work in a leading Korean-American community organization in a major city in the United States. Using cultural–historical activity theory as a theoretical framework, a coalition activity was identified based on the organization's socio-cultural and historical contexts. Four contradictions were discovered within the activity. These contradictions may have impeded coalition-building and learning between the organization's activists and partners. By negotiating contradictions through several efforts (actions) in their daily work, the activists elicited both intended and unintended outcomes, including individual learning. These findings contribute to providing practical insights for other community organizations to cultivate coalitions through emphasizing learning as an ongoing socio-cultural process.
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