Community development has a key role to play in bringing about more inclusive and cooperative communities. However, it is often overlooked and underfunded. One underlying problem is that commentators, policy makers, and the general public do not readily see what basis there is for changing societal structures and relations in line with community development practice. This can be rectified through four strands of activity:
Making the Argument
Political discussions cover many views about what communities should be like. At one end of the spectrum there is the individualistic conception of community as a loose collection of people who look to their own interests, and rely primarily on the market and charities to deal with unmet needs. At the other end there is the hierarchical model wherein dominant groups will determine the ‘traditional’ rules and customs everyone else should have to follow. In between these conceptions, the case for what community development aims to achieve needs to be made. Cogent arguments should be put forward for nurturing social relations in the direction of mutual respect and thoughtful cooperation.
(For example, see: Communitarianism: a new agenda for politics and citizenship ; and The Evolution of Communitarian Ideas )
Raising Awareness
By its very nature, community development requires people to play an informed role in shaping their communities, and this will not happen if people think it is some marginal process that has little to do with them. All too often, people have insufficient understanding of how wider policies and practices may impact upon them, or worse, they are misled into supporting what are in fact damaging for them. We should raise public awareness through a variety of means - lifelong learning, satirical literature, social marketing, imaginative campaigns – to stimulate interest in questioning prevailing societal arrangements, and exploring alternatives for bringing about more satisfactory outcomes in terms of fairness, contentment, progress and sustainability.
(For example, see: The Anti-Con Novels;
‘Kuan’s Wonderland: a novel exploration of inequality’ ; and the group learning resource, What Should Citizens Believe )
Improving Community Engagement
The degree to which members of any community can influence the key activities affecting that community is down to the effectiveness of engagement arrangements put in place. Large groups of people, with diverse ideas and concerns, constrained by the time and resources they have, are unlikely to be able to deliberate and arrive at informed views about what is to be done for their common good – unless they are supported by the most appropriate community engagement practices in resolving their differences and exploring shared objectives. We should ensure lessons from what works (and what does not) in the design and implementation of community engagement are taken on board in giving people a meaningful say about collective decisions that affect them.
(For example, see: ‘Together We Can: a resource guide’ ; ‘Cooperative Problem-Solving: the key to a reciprocal society' ; and Tomorrow’s Communities: lessons for community-based transformation in the age of global crises )
Tackling Inequalities
Inequalities have a major impact on how individual citizens can participate in exerting collective influence. Those with more power in terms of wealth, status, and connections can push their preferences with no regard for what others might think, while many others, as a result of their socio-economic, physical, and/or cultural predicament, possess little power to make their concerns count. It is essential to curtail the concentration of power in those who can increasingly dictate terms to others without being held to account, and to improve the conditions for those who are held back by the disadvantages they have had to endure.
(For example, see: Against Power Inequalities ; and Time to Save Democracy )
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