Community Development Flashcards
Important values in community development:
- Process and integrity.
- Value local knowledge.
- Be culturally respectful.
- Utilise local assets and resources.
- Community strengths.
- Bottom up, empowering approaches.
Ife (2016); the primacy of process: we get socially just outcomes if we:
- Value the local.
- Engage in processes that have integrity.
- Are open and inclusive.
- Seek consensus.
Concepts which underpin community work (9):
- Advocacy
- Empowerment
- Access + Equity
- Participation
- Human Rights
- Social Justice
- Participatory Democracy
- Inclusiveness
- Sustainability
Six aspects of a social justice perspective:
- Structural disadvantage
- Empowerment
- Rights
- Needs
- Peace and non-violence
- Participatory democracy
Empowerment in community development (6):
- It is a collaborative approach (instead of a top down).
- Community control over knowledge and information.
- Informed choice.
- Community driven decision making.
- Building on strengths rather than focusing on ‘problems’.
- Active participation.
Questions to assess power (5):
- What are the sources of power for those in conflict?
- Is there a significant power imbalance?
- Is power being misused or abused?
- How can the less powerful become more empowered?
- What intervention is most appropriate?
Traditional sources of power (6):
- Control
- Money and wealth
- Position
- Knowledge and information; might and force
- Abuse
- Inspiring fear
Intersectionality and power (7):
- Gender
- Age
- Class
- Ethnicity
- Race
- Ability
- Through institutions (family, community, religion, education, media, etc).
What is an ideology?
- A set of beliefs or vision about how the world should be in terms of causes and social problems and solutions” (Rayment, 2007).
Rights and social justice:
An understanding of human rights provides a helpful framework, often viewed in terms of legislation, bills, the UN. These are obviously all important but are ‘top down’ approaches and worker would need to consider these from an empowerment perspective.
Human rights and community development (2):
- A human rights approach to community development places the issue within a broader social justice agenda.
- A human rights framework and approach ensures that community is engaged in a process that is empowering and that sustainable change is affected.
Four principles of ecology:
- Holism
- Sustainability
- Diversity
- Equilibrium
Ecological perspective and community development:
Environmental activists have seen community as an important component of a sustainable future. Ecological responses place humanity’s relation to nature at the centre of understanding of human social life. (Kenny p108)
Limitations of the ecological perspective (3):
- Does not address issues such as equity, human rights, structural oppression or disadvantage and empowerment
- Could potentially produce an ecologically sound society that may be authoritarian, divisive etc
- Approach seeks solutions within the existing social, economic and political order (needs to be integrated with a social justice approach).
Social justice and ecological perspectives:
- Ideally a combination of a social justice approach combined with an ecological approach is important for Community Development. One without the other is insufficient.