Welfare reform on the Web (December 2006): Community regeneration and development - Overseas
The challenge of democratic participation in the community development process
P. McKinlay
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.492-505
The Local Government Act 2002 laid a new statutory duty on councils: enabling local democratic decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities and promoting the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of communities. This paper:
- Articulates the purposes of the 2002 reform of local government in New Zealand, including the empowerment of communities
- Examines the theoretical and practical implications of the long-term local authority community plan.
- Critically examines the effectiveness of councils’ approach to community development in the light of the fact that they do not provide social services
Churches and social development: a South African perspective
A. Nieman
International Social Work, vol.49, 2006, p.595-604
Conventional wisdom increasingly allocates churches and other faith-based organisations a large role in community development and welfare provision. This article discusses the possible role of churches in social development in South Africa. It demonstrates that church membership and spirituality represent strengths into which community development workers can tap in tackling poverty and underdevelopment.
Community development: working in the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand
R. Munford and W. Walsh-Tapiata
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.426-442
This paper explores the relationship between community development and bicultural frameworks for practice. The Treaty of Waitangi both protects the rights of the Maori as the indigenous population and validates the existence of others who came later to live in the land. It is a living document which shapes contemporary understanding of how relationships are constructed between the Maori and later settlers. Community workers have attempted to use the treaty as a foundation and guide for their practice. Their task has been to translate the articles of the treaty into their daily practice, with a view to creating more equitable relationships between Maori and non-Maori.
Community development and control in a state-local partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand
P. Shannon and P. Walker
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.506-520
This paper provides a case study of an attempt, using community development methods within a framework of deliberative governance, to empower a community to develop more independent and autonomous local decision-making within a partnership between the central government, the municipality, and community organisations. The partnership in this case took the form of a District Safer Community Council, involving central and local government and community organisations in Timaru in South Island, New Zealand.
Community development in Christchurch City: a socialist banana republic under threat?
R. Routledge
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.443-452
The author shows how local government can work against central government policy to support independent community action, using Anglican Care in Christchurch as a case study. He explores the recent activities of Anglican Care in response to urban need and how it used its parish structure and action research to develop innovative practice.
Community development, partnership governance and dilemmas of professionalization: profiling and assessing the case of Ireland
M. Geoghegen and F. Powell
British Journal of Social Work, vol.36, 2006, p.845-861
Community development through local voluntary groups informed by a social justice ethos appeals to a wide range of interests as a means of achieving social change. Since the early 1990s these groups have received increased state funding. This resource has had a dramatic effect on the structure and nature of community development. This paper outlines and assesses the model of community development which has emerged in Ireland in this period. Data gathered from a national survey of community workers are used to profile the extent of state funding; the consequent employment profile of community development workers and the impact on volunteering; and the nature of community development’s emerging relationship with the state.
Community participation: lessons from post-apartheid South Africa
J.J. Williams
Policy Studies, vol.27, 2006, p.197-217
Drawing on research into community participation in Cape Town 1994-2004, the author shows that participation is undermined by the absence of community organisations. It is therefore necessary for communities to organise themselves into civic bodies that can represent their interests at local government level. In historically marginalised sections of society, communities should revisit their experiences of mobilisation against the apartheid state and adapt such forms of engagement and dialogue to empower citizens at the grassroots level. They need to refocus their organisational energies and goals to ensure that socio-economic development programmes deliver their constitutional rights, such as the right to life and overall human dignity.
The historical context of community development in Aotearoa New Zealand
L.M. Chile
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.407-425
This paper argues that community development practice in Aotearoa New Zealand is best understood by examining three concurrent processes. These are: 1) community development programmes undertaken by the state through government departments and local authorities; 2) processes of social change undertaken primarily through the collective action of individuals and voluntary sector organisations which give voice to marginalised groups; and 3) the forces of change within the indigenous Maori community which are working for self-determination. This paper explores the historical roots of all three processes and how they inform contemporary community development practice.
Tapuwae: a vehicle for community change
A. Eketone
Community Development Journal, vol.41, 2006, p.467-480
A strengths-based approach to community development is proposed, which recognises the right of indigenous peoples to define the things that are important to them, using their own processes to advance and develop on their own terms. The paper reports on a case study of Tapuwae, a community development project using this approach begun in Dunedin in 2001 by a group of Maori people. The project used traditional watercraft (waka) as a means to promote social change. Tapuwae took traditional Maori concepts and values, particularly around waka, and adapted them to a contemporary context.