A potted history of community development

… and some pretty cool quotes on radical community development

DISCLAIMERS

I have engineering degrees. I don’t fully understand some of the words used by social science-y people.

Apparently the ‘Golden Age’ of community development in the UK was 1968 to the mid 1970’s. I was born in the mid 1970’s. And I’ve never applied myself to learning history.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The following is from a handy document created by Jill Bedford of ‘changes’ (@jillbed)

REFORMIST

A charitable, philanthropic approach.

Self-help.

‘Doing-to’.

Model of deficiency. Pathologising groups and communities.

RADICAL

Philosophy of liberation.

Power relations and analysis of power at the centre.

Challenging people and structures.

A radical and revolutionary approach

CD IN RELATION TO POLITICAL PURPOSE

REFORMIST

Workers Educational Association

University Settlements movement

The deserving poor

RADICAL

Women’s suffrage

Women’s health clinics

Glasgow rent strikes

1900’s - 1920’s

REFORMIST

Urban clearances - new council estates

New community centres built to foster sense of community

Employment of community workers tied to social work practice

RADICAL

Unemployed workers movement

Jarrow marches

General strikes

1930’s

REFORMIST

Ideas around neighbourhood work and interagency work and collaboration from Murray Ross bought from Canada to the UK

RADICAL

1940’s - 1950’s

REFORMIST

Younghusband report -community work as a key component of social work

Gulbenkain report - community work needs to be a full time professional job in neighbourhoods

Skeffington report - importance of public participation in planning and the role CD can play

RADICAL

Critique of Gulbenkian report: - glosses over /igore

political nature of community development

- ignoring the root causes of oppression

- social work/community work can be seen as ‘soft policing’ of communities

1960’s

REFORMIST

Urban Programme scheme started

Community Development Projects started in specific communities to ameliorate effects of poverty

RADICAL

Staff in Community Development Projects became disenchanted with the little they could do working with system and started to challenge the vary basis of their work (they became radicalised)

The writings of Friere, Gramsci and Alinsky became well known

Late 1960’s - 1970’s

REFORMIST

Concepts of self help and service provision tied in to state funding of voluntary and community sector, and linked to business model of operating - quality systems, targets and managerialism.

Focus on small scale neighbourhood changes often associated with physical environment.

RADICAL

Feminist and black critiques of community development approaches

‘In or against the state’ arguments - the state as employer/funder and oppressor. Inherent tensions especially when community workers are employed by local authorities.

Late 1970’s - 1990’s

REFORMIST

Partnerships between VCS and governance, VCS starting to deliver local services

Place-shaping and Neighbourhood Renewal

Community cohesion Social capital Community engagement Community empowerment

RADICAL

Rise of ‘idelogical confusion’ - to naively support policies around participation rather than social justice and equality

The co-option of radical community work - the professionalisation of community action - replaces critical analysis with sustainability and social inclusion

1997 - 2010

2010 - 2020

Community development begins in the everyday reality of people’s lives by “extraordinarily re-experiencing the ordinary”.

In a process of action and reflection, community development grows through a diversity of local projects that address issues faced by people in a community.

Through campaigns, networks and alliances, this action develops a local:global reach that aims to transform the structures of oppression that diminish local lives.

Margaret Ledwith Community Development: A critical approach (2005)

Community development starts from the principle that there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the communities’ desired goals.

Community Development Exchange

Lorna Prescott Senior Development Officer

Dudley CVS @dosticen

(CDX Trustee 2007-2011)