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Gandhi and Ambedkar offer a fascinating picture of community organizers fighting against caste oppression and caste discrimination. Both were committed to transforming the social, economic, political, and cultural conditions of 'Dalits'†. They claimed that only through social action could societal transformation take place. As a result, they placed a strong emphasis on mobilizing the public against untouchability. They envisioned the removal of untouchability through popular struggles and popular participation. Not only did Gandhi and Ambedkar undertake popular campaigns, but they also saw them as necessary and beneficial. This paper explores the implications of integrating the constructs of the Gandhian and Ambedkarian models to tackle the problem of untouchability. It re-reads the Constitution of the Anti-Untouchability League (AUL) which was prepared by Gandhi himself in January 1935 in conjunction with a comprehensive letter penned by Ambedkar in November 1932, containing a plan of action for the AUL to carry out for the uplift of 'Dalits', to shed light on the lessons that are still important for the modern-day community organizers in India. The paper argues that synergizing Gandhi's and Ambedkar's emancipatory discourses can enrich the present-day activism for social action combatting untouchability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the failure of top-down initiatives to bring about community development (CD) in many developing countries, attention is switching to bottom-up approaches, one of which is to use community-based organizations (CBOs) as the conduit through which CD may be achieved. This paper compares the effectiveness of traditional CBOs and modern CBOs in fostering CD in eight communities in Ogoniland, Nigeria, where there is a long history of neglect and underdevelopment. The paper was based on extensive fieldwork carried out in eight Ogoni communities during 2013-2014, which involved 101 telephone interviews with residents, 67 face-to-face key informant interviews, 189 survey questionnaires, and 3 focus groups discussions. The two main conclusions reached by this paper are that despite some praise expressed by respondents for their CBOs, the fashionable belief that CBOs are strong agents of bottom-up CD is not borne out by this study; and there is little difference between respondents' evaluations of the contributions to CD made by modern CBOs and the much vaunted traditional CBOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for the importance of emphasizing the agency and the initiative of community voluntary associations in relations of shared governance with the local state. This is intended to counter what the author sees as a current over emphasis on government-initiated, -directed, -guided or -administered forms of collaboration. Dangers documented by other scholars of this kind of collaborative governance include cooptation, placation, lack of real authority, absence of diversity and overall lack of parity with government. Based on a larger qualitative study of a mid-sized city near Boston, MA, the paper describes associations which choose to act (i) in opposition to local government as a path towards parity in shared governance, and (ii) in parallel with but separate from local government as a way to influence that government. The author argues that when associations exercise their agency to choose when and how to work with government (and when not to), this preserves associational independence while at the same time allowing for beneficial forms of state-associational engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The UK ‘New’ Labour Government has introduced a number of regional, local and neighbourhood initiatives. These claim to share similar characteristics based upon the concepts of ‘partnership’ and ‘multi-agency’ cooperation. New structures to ensure the accountability and the delivery of these new forms of governance and service delivery have been established. Local Strategic Partnerships, with an emphasis on community ‘capacity’ building are the latest policy response. This paper, drawing upon research in Manchester and Glasgow, suggests that whilst these initiatives use a new language, they are steeped in old practices. Changing structures does not, of itself, alter the power differences inherent in local neighbourhoods where community groups are cast as ‘dependent’ by regeneration managers seeking to meet performance targets. The paper seeks to identify ways in which this relationship can be altered to enable local groups to negotiate a new agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few years, community organizing has been initiated by different government and non-government organizations in corruption prevention through creating social awareness and motivation. The question arises: Can community-based organizations or community organizing empower people to raise their voice to prevent corruption? Based on empirical evidence, this research argues that engaging the community in anti-corruption initiatives can be an effective way to avert corruption and empower people's voice. The finding shows that anti-corruption initiatives through spontaneous individual and collective involvement at the local level have an impact on creating accountability and transparency. Despite several challenges, these group and individual efforts have had significant results in promoting anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh. Effective anti-corruption initiatives in engaging the community need 'spontaneous' participation by individuals or groups. As such, the government should give primacy of these individuals and groups and use them to create more formalized corruption watchdog bodies at the sub-regional level and make it a stronger National Integrity Systems foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on original empirical research and theories of cultural geography, this article investigates the multiple ways community is produced, understood and valued through a closer interrogation of the community centre as a contested site. The paper investigates the symbolism of the buildings [see Dovey, K. (1999) Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form. Routledge, London] as they are claimed and framed by local government; the use of the buildings and how this contributes to what we might call the overall assemblage or forming of the building [see Lees (Towards a critical geography of architecture: the case of ersatz colosseum. Cult. Geograp.; 2001 8:51–86), De Landa (2006) A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity, Continuum, London, Jacobs (A geography of big things, Cult. Geograph. 2006;13:1–27)]; the affect of the buildings or architecture on community use [see Thrift, N. (2004) Intensities of feeling: towards a spatial politics of affect, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 86(1), 57–78]; and disruptive, haptic, unintended or ‘queer’ use of such spaces (see Grosz (2001) Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA). In so doing, we argue that an investigation of architecture can offer key insights and contributions to debates in wider policy, particularly in relation to the values and affordances of ‘community’ in the UK today. By focusing on the community centre, we also shift the existing focus of much architectural research away from what Jacobs has called ‘big things’ [Jacobs (A geography of big things, Cult. Geograph. 2006;13:1–27, pp. 4–5)] onto ordinary, everyday and mundane architectures of community centres. Secondly, we argue that, particularly the newer breed of ‘community facing social enterprise centres’, construct and imagine notions of communities in inherently problematic ways, and while in some instances such productions and imaginings are disrupted through use, the architecture nevertheless continues to be claimed by local government as a powerful indicator of (a particular notion and construction of) community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper locates responses to the 2011 Tottenham riots within a historical analysis of planning, regeneration and the politics of community participation in the London Borough of Haringey. It examines understandings of the role of such participation and related recommendations within three 2012 reports: North London Citizens, an alliance of mostly faith organizations, The Tottenham Community Panel established by Haringey Council and the Riots, Communities and Victims Panel set up by Parliament. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1978, when economic reform began in China, it was the party-state-controlled people's organizations that were most deeply involved in people's work and social life. For example, the official trade union, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), was the one and only legal organization representing workers. Although people who worked for state-owned enterprises were mostly unionized under the umbrella of the ACFTU, the new migrant workers in private enterprises were basically unorganized. Since the mid-1990s, labour activists, some of whom are supported by the international civil society, have tried to establish an alternative form of organization, specifically labour non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for migrant workers. The labour NGOs are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta of South China and provide services in migrant workers' settlement communities. This paper evaluates the degree to which the labour NGOs have maintained a relatively autonomous civil society space for the vulnerable migrant workers and nurtured a democratic form of labour organization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 1980s, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and likeminded nonprofit networks have assisted colonias – or poor, marginalized communities in the four states along the US–Mexico border – in community organizing and providing basic services. This paper explores the successes and challenges of NGOs in this region, considers the ways in which local NGOs have partnered with larger NGO networks, and assesses the advantages and risks of NGOs partnering with NGO networks. It concludes with recommendations as to how NGO networks might assist in ‘scaling up’ the successes of local NGOs to improve the quality of life in colonias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past twenty years there has been an upsurge of interest in the credit union movement. They claim to play a key role in community development and regeneration. Against a background of increasing financial exclusion and debt, its has been suggested that the community development focus of this movement is a key factor in its success. This paper based on a large community based organization suggests that there is a considerable discrepancy between what the organization claims its contribution to the community is and how the members view its role. It is suggested that their contribution to community development is limited to providing a savings and low cost loans service. Their claims to evoke a community spirit, sense of solidarity and empowerment are largely rhetoric. It is concluded that the credit union movement must re‐assess and re‐examine its aims as it is in danger of becoming seen simply as another financial institution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Community development and area regeneration partnerships require a relationship of trust between partners in order to be effective. Trust between community representatives and the wider community of residents allows regeneration activities to proceed with least disruption. Residents, however, will want to scrutinize the work undertaken on their behalf. This paper presents the results of a survey-based analysis of residents' expressions of trust in local community groups active in public-community partnerships in Northern Ireland. It identifies three types of community groups; groups led by businesspersons, groups formed from existing community organizations, and groups founded by community and political activists. The analysis shows that the type of community group is a major influence on residents' belief in the representativeness of a group, but not their assessment of a group's ability to deliver successful regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By integrating a learning experience with community organizations, service-learning (SL) can be considered a tool to facilitate rural communities' development, acting as a resource mobilizer. This study presents a participatory process based on the assets-based approach for community development approach. Six local organizations and 16 university students in three Italian rural communities were engaged to assess local resources and co-construct rural SL (RSL) projects. A two-phase rural participative process was developed and evaluated using qualitative instruments, such as focus groups and students' reflexive journals. Results indicated that rural communities uncovered a set of material and intangible inner assets to develop. Indeed, they identified internal (and potentially external) resources that could effectively bring some insights to rural challenges. Moreover, community members experienced new paths through SL to count on their internal assets through effective collaboration with university students. The collaboration between students (and university) and community organizations delivered new local and rural development opportunities while supporting the partnership for RSL. Students experienced themselves as potential agents of change, enhancing their psychosocial resources and competencies, and strengthening rural development. The result's implications involve the development of rural policies, including effective participation of rural communities (and organizations) and regarding different dimensions of development, like economic or psychosocial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to several papers published within the issue including the role of nonprofit sector in the neoliberalization process in Canada, the impact of corporate social responsibility on community development, and the role of community based organizations in community development.

This article explores and extrapolates an emerging concept within community practice: namely that of organic community co-production. The concept is influenced by previous uses of the term 'organic', specifically as applied by Tönnies in relation to certain types of community, and Gramsci in respect of a concept of leadership. Our development of the term has been generated within the context of reflective practitioner experience, located in a community-led action campaign Voice4Deptford, in South East London. The case study explores the interdisciplinary roots of this form of co-production. It highlights the way that these pre-existing principles and methods have been adapted, reflected upon and improvised in the light of 30 years' grassroots engagement by Green to evolve a bespoke approach that we are proposing to call 'organic community coproduction'. The case study outlines several original dimensions or modalities of community organic co-production including; stepping aside; the academic as a non-expert and giving voice. It unpacks the different elements of impact and transformation, that are consequent upon organic community co-production. These include; evidence of change; working together and community reflective time. The article concludes with a discussion of the issues involved in reframing of local power, the campaigns early successes and its continuing challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and analyses the organization and functioning of subaltern peasant sanghams (grassroot associations of the poor) and their place-based as well as network-based strategies in building autonomous local communities that challenge the consequences of neoliberal globalization in general and the commodification of agriculture and food in particular. The major objective of the counter-hegemonic organizational strategies is to build self-protective and subsistence communities, to mend the metabolic rift between nature and society, and to re-reconstruct social fabric within communities. The question remains is whether place-based autonomous communities can sustain in an increasingly globalizing world. To better understand these political dynamics, I use Karl Polanyis concept of ‘double movement’ and examine the making of a double movement in Indian agriculture and its socio-political and ecological implications for the Indian peasantry. I use the organizational strategies and activities of the Deccan Development Society, a prominent non-governmental organization that has been working in Medak district for more than two decades, as an illustrative case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an approach for building community capacity and two case study examples of improving locally managed ecotourism in Northern Thailand. It provides an analysis of the practical application of the approach and the implications for community development. Nine ‘operational domains’ were used to build and measure community capacity at the community level. This allowed community-based organizations to scrutinize their achievements, to address their constraints and to measure their progress over time, enhanced by a simple means of visual representation. Experiences in Northern Thailand demonstrate that the key to this approach was in the use of strategic planning to initiate community actions towards sustained locally managed ecotourism. The knowledge, skills and competencies gained by the two communities led to an improvement in their ecotourism enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The community economic development (CED) framework has its roots at the margins of society but has gained a broader interest. This paper examines some key principles associated with the CED framework. Interviews with practitioners within three CED organizations in Vancouver resulted in themes that link CED as a strategy for sustaining a broader vision of the organizations. CED ventures provide opportunities that enhance the connection for marginalized peoples to participate in local community organizations. Yet, there are challenges around delivering services within an alternative framework operationalized within a market-based paradigm. Nevertheless, CED initiatives can have far reaching impacts beyond the individual and the organization. Indeed, CED is about networks of communities within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crisis in community development in Ireland has been discussed by community workers, academics and equality experts. This article contributes to this analysis with empirical research encompassing the voice of people living with inequality, including a number of community activists. The research shows how affective relations take precedence in women's discussions about social class inequality and activism at a community level. Yet, this everyday concern with the affective is not given a legitimate status in academic and political discourse about community development. It is argued that this depoliticization of affective relations is part of the crisis in community development when it fails to incorporate a political analysis of what matters most to people at a community level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contours of this article, written as a dialogue between two authors, one in Australia (Westoby) and one in South Africa (Harris), outline a Derridean deconstruction of community development 'yet-to-come' during and post coronavirus disease 2019. Reflecting on our two countries' experiences, drawing on theorists such as Zuboff (surveillance capitalism), Freire (critical literacy), Foucault (biopower), Escobar (pluriversality) and Berardi (semio-capitalism), we argue for transformational critical digital literacy work that enables greater community awareness of the consequences of digital lives and also transformative praxis. Riffing off many experiences that readers will be familiar with (lockdown, social distancing, tracing apps, virtual meetings and so on), the dialogue also suggests a soulful community development yet-to-come, foregrounding embodied lives, slowness, place, relationality and connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the consequences of shifts in the terms of engagement with the state – since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 – for small-scale UK arts-based community organisations. Through an engagement with the accounts of key stakeholders from three case study organisations, the article considers the nature and extent of organisational changes in four main respects: the activities undertaken, the people and groups engaged, the income streams accessed and understandings of role or mission. Having outlined the variable fates of each organisation over this period, the article illuminates how the effects of austerity and associated policy shifts have served to mitigate against organisations' ability to sustain arts-based work with disadvantaged groups, resist neoliberal 'enterprise' agendas or maintain a practical commitment to community development aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on fieldwork education in community organization (CO) and argues that it is distinct in many ways from the conventional social work approach to problem-solving where social work students are taught to value objectivity, neutrality and emotional detachment. Fieldwork is generally characterized as unproblematic and the belief that ‘all social work students do the same thing’ through field instruction is reflected in the fact that, except for a manual or two, there is scant academic literature on fieldwork instruction in India. When the sites of practice and the nature of tasks performed by students are examined carefully, this homogenized understanding is challenged. The pedagogical objectives and the processes followed in selecting sites of practice for educational purposes, the positionality assumed by the academic department and by the fieldwork supervisor, and how these are communicated to the students, all make a significant difference to ‘the fieldwork’ experience of students and their learning. The paper presents the experience of one university (the Tata Institute of Social Sciences) where fieldwork in CO was consciously re-defined as a process of political engagement over a decade of collective work by faculty members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mumbai has historically been a home to several struggles of urban underprivileged groups. The city assured spaces to slums in the past, albeit grudgingly. Cases of displacement were few and intensely contested. However, the last decade has witnessed a considerable expansion of the nature and scale of threats to the existence of slum-dwellers in the city. Attempts to organize slum communities began in the 1960s following a trajectory of locality development and then housing rights. The earlier vision of broad-based development and struggles of urban poor has given way to fragmented, issue-based and localized struggles. Intense politicization and competition for valuable resources and opportunities have fractured this potent constituency comprising about 60 percent of city dwellers. The paper traces the slippery and challenging terrain of organizing slum communities around their rights and raises questions about the location and nature of community practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mahatma Gandhi – one of the most prolific writers amongst the figures of world history – has left us details of his growth as a thinker and activist. ‘The Story of Satyagraha in South Africa’ documents the struggle of Gandhi, still in his twenties, who confronts racism in a foreign country and is able to negotiate substantial gains for his community through a long-drawn political struggle involving the new methods of Satyagraha. This book while speaking of the development of the various aspects of Satyagraha as a political as well as spiritual weapon, also documents the complex scenario in three countries – England, South Africa and India. The context defines the lives of the Indians in South Africa, their struggle and Gandhis strategies as an organizer. The individual sacrifices, the efforts for fundraising, the intricacies of keeping together a community with members from different religions, the day-to-day concerns of Ashram life, the tough decisions at critical junctures of the movement – Gandhi offers a fascinating picture of the community organizer. The paper re-visits this tale and culls out the lessons that are important not only for the modern-day community organizer in India but are also perhaps timeless in their relevance and appeal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid privatization of solid waste management (SWM) across urban centers in India since the 1990s, the role of the state agencies is considerably diluted. The contract system in this sector is here to stay. This has implications for the large numbers of conservancy workers who are employees of the urban local bodies (ULBs) as well as those who perform the same functions as the ‘standard’ workers, but work on contractual basis. Through amendments in certain labour and environment related laws, SWM has been getting differently organized during the last seven to eight years in India. The labour question in the rapidly privatizing SWM sector in urban areas has several dimensions including that of job security, and conflicts between permanent and contractual workers and other groups who work with waste. All these categories of workers in urban India, whether within the formal or the informal sector, belong to socially and economically marginalized sections of society. Unionization of workers and struggles for their entitlements has been an important strategy. Several years of association with a trade union of conservancy workers in the city of Mumbai has enriched teaching of Community Organization (CO) through classroom-field interface with a focus on social action. This paper attempts to trace, through the lens of the interface between an academic institution (and its curriculum in CO) and a trade union, the struggles and success in assuring secure livelihood and entitlements for thousands of workers. Achievements of the union assume great significance as it gives others the confidence to continue with their own efforts at organizing the unorganized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In communication for social change, a catalyst can play an important role in creating dialogue within the community, leading to collective actions and providing solutions for common problems. In urban communities of developing countries, this role is more essential because of the complexities of urban social issues and often the absence of traditional community structures. This research evaluated the LIN model of participatory community development in Ho Chi Minh City and demonstrates how urban NPOs have altered their self-perception from being 'charity organizations' to be a part of the community development process in HCMC as a result of LIN's work. However, LIN's catalyst model faces some challenges, particularly in applying Western concepts of community development and tenets of participatory social change in the Vietnamese context. As a result, a revised catalyst model of urban community development in Vietnam is suggested with three additional elements: leadership strategy for catalyst and NPOs, context understanding (local context and stakeholders' characteristics) and impact evaluation framework based on the local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the function of community-based organizations in engaging citizens in planning healthy built environments in urban neighbourhoods. Research on the 3-year Green, Active, Healthy Neighbourhoods (GAHN) initiative, spearheaded by a city-wide umbrella group and local organizations in four boroughs of Montreal found that in activating citizen participation, the role of organizations was significant in four dimensions: (i) mobilizing to generate awareness and interest; (ii) giving voice to problems and solutions; (iii) pooling citizens' and professionals' knowledge; and (iv) maintaining participation in implementation. Organizations involved in GAHN provided creative tools and processes for citizens' participation, which were valued by planners and local authorities, but collaborative participation was difficult beyond the exploratory and diagnostic dimensions. This study points to the challenges in sustaining collaboration and having influence. Organizations need to maintain pressure, conserve independence and renew linkages with citizens to shift urban planning practices from car-dominated to people-centred development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The first part of the article examines the impact of neo-liberalism on the third sector in the United Kingdom, focusing in particular on ‘partnership’ and the ‘Big Society’ as key narratives shaping assumptions about the nature of social change and the respective roles of the state, market and third sector. In the second part of the article, ideas associated with political theorists Chantal Mouffe and Hannah Arendt are drawn upon to provide insight into the nature and importance of ‘the political’ in promoting democracy and social change. This provides a conceptual framework for exploring the link between the Big Society and community organizing and the potential for community organizing to provide an effective political approach to working with poor and disadvantaged communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses how communities and its representatives have been involved in public dialogue and deliberation processes in Bolivia and Guatemala. It draws on my own experience and personal reflection in supporting and facilitating community participation in public dialogue initiatives in these countries. First, I comment briefly on the origin and current role of dialogue and deliberation in Latin America. Then, I reflect upon my own experience to illustrate two cases where communities and their organizations have been involved in these processes, both at local and national level. On the basis of these cases, I conclude with some key lessons and challenges to consider when supporting multi-stakeholder dialogic processes wherein communities are involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong sees a new wave of community organization and resistance brought by urban redevelopment and social work reform after 2003. Its goals resemble that of anti-urban redevelopment community organizing in Vancouver in the 1970s. Yet the community organizers and residents painstakingly opt for unprecedented professional means. This strategy works exceptionally well to achieve Alinsky's original goals. This article compares these scenarios to analyse the considerations and effectiveness of this new strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal governments often struggle with growth and infrastructure while trying to emphasize collaboration between citizens and administrators in developing and implementing public programming. Neotraditional or New Urban design advocates assert neighborhood design as a response to concerns that rapid community growth, sprawl, and the resulting social and political changes lead to deteriorating quality of life and democratic participation in communities. Advocates argue neighborhood design elements that increase pedestrian traffic and encourage social interaction may mitigate the effects of income disparity and citizen apathy. Results from this study – using geographic information systems technology along with demographic data, land use information, and neighborhood viscosity indicators – indicate traditional design elements do not necessarily associate with factors assumed to foster neighborhood viscosity such as more civic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores teaching, learning, and research that dynamically engages students, community workers, community members, and academics in a type of knowledge organization: the practice of community-based research (CBR). This case study details a university course in which participants (i) work together in CBR activities that foster partnership between universities and agencies in the non-profit sector, particularly AIDS service organizations in the city of Vancouver, BC, (ii) build bridges between classroom- and community-grounded knowledges and personal experience, and (iii) explore the learning and ethical underpinnings of this experience. We argue that the interaction between students, professors, and community-based organizations that results from CBR and participatory action research provides a framework for community development and the transfer of knowledges, skills, and practices between communities and individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of capacity building is often discussed in the literature and represents a central aim of many development projects around the world. Indonesia has been a recipient of many programs of this type, and the nation's agencies and organizations of all kinds have taken up the idea of capacity building as a major goal of development. Despite this, the meaning and nature of capacity building is not well understood in Indonesia, even by those directly involved, and differs considerably from its generally accepted sense in the west. This article considers the meaning and nature of capacity building as it is used in Indonesia, including the ways in which Indonesians perceive the concept. This will provide better insights into the whole question of capacity in that nation and will serve to inform future aid and development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is based on research with community organizers in India. We illustrate that community organizers in India have done a thorough analysis with respect to the impact of globalization on the communities with which they work. We argue that community practitioners have a clear political understanding of their practice that is tied to the perception that global change has led to increasing marginalization of communities in India. As a result of these changes, the guiding principles of community practices in India need to be rethought. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on two decades of grassroots experiences, Concern Bangladesh has developed a federation structure to ensure the sustainability of community-based organizations (CBO). Despite capacity-building inputs to all federations, only a few of them have been able to operate without substantial external aid. This lack of progress relates to a ‘one size fits all’ capacity-building strategy and other sociopolitical issues such as the alienation of federations from the wider community and to political manipulation. Successful federations demonstrate that a committed leader who ensures participation, respects transparency and accountability, and promotes second line leadership can contribute positively to sustainability, even in an adverse sociopolitical context, and with limited capacity-building support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities and community groups across Britain are faced with ever-increasing opportunities to ‘participate’, yet such engagement is widely viewed as ineffective and the motives behind it viewed with suspicion. This article suggests that ineffectiveness is often at least partly the result of decisions that are taken within the wider policy-making processes that develop and surround public involvement, and presents a way of analysing such management. This analysis also points to a strategy for being more effective, through attempting to become more active players in the larger policy-making ‘game’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based research, which usually links university students and faculty with community groups in applied research projects, is gaining recognition as an effective mechanism for community-directed research and development. These partnerships can serve a variety of research, policy, educational and action goals. The nature of the outcomes also depends on the intensity, duration and quality of the partnership. Three types of partnership are described, with reference to the Sustainable Toronto project, which includes all three kinds of relationships under its general umbrella. Recommendations are made to encourage and sustain community–university partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how a growth-centred approach (Srinivasan, 1992) to development assisted a group of women in Grenada to build self and group confidence, and to increase literacy. The purpose of the study was to understand how this process could help other adult educators working within a similar context to assist women learners in developing and exercising their personal, social and literacy power. The initial design of the programme was based on the needs ascribed as a result of past experiences working with women's community groups in Grenada and informal perceptions communicated by local women working within the field of women, development and adult education.This article analyses a six-month participatory study that fostered women's growth as a political act of resisting negative labels and oppressive conditions. bell hooks' (1993) words served as the motivation for the research: ‘We cannot fully create effective movements for social change if individuals struggling for that change are not self-actualized or working towards that end’ (p. 4). A ‘growth-centered’ approach, as advanced by Srinivasan (1992), is shown to be a useful starting place for personal and social transformation within Grenadian women's lives and community groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates and discusses the experience of one community worker in interacting with the state. The challenges faced by state institutions when interacting with local communities are discussed and it is argued that for effective constructive interaction to take place between state and community organizations, both parties need to adapt their current structures. Finally the article offers some practical suggestions for the development of mechanisms that may facilitate effective state/community efforts to operationalize local partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contemporary discussion on inter-community relations in India can never be comprehensive without taking certain landmarks, seen through momentous ruptures in the forms and nature of dialogue between communities. While there is ample historical evidence that the barbaric episodes of violence are not new, the communal divides visible in contemporary Indian society have been able to fan the emotions of a large section of the people in specific moments, and the implications of the same travel down to the everyday life of people. The premeditated demarcation of borders and boundaries between communities that was coincidental with the rise of the right-wing forces in Indian politics received fresh allies and social constituencies, and they have all gone in unison to produce insulting boundaries for others. In the wave of hate-mongering and spitting of venom, this article locates the challenge for community organization practices in enhancing the tapestry of plural living and tolerance in a democratic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]