Community Development

There is a growing recognition of the importance of networking for the vitality and cohesion of community life. Now in its third edition, and substantially updated, this textbook combines practical experience and theory for people working with and for communities.

This collection of innovative approaches to social work placements offers hope in the current climate of cuts to services and over-regulation. The international contributions offer practical guidance and challenge conventional approaches to placement finding, teaching and assessment in field education.

This book examines ways to understand and engage with the troublesome concept of 'community', presenting a variety of perspectives to challenge the ways in which areas of poverty and disrepute are represented.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Using case studies and a strengths-based approach Best puts forward a new recovery and reintegration model for substance users and offenders leaving prison which emphasizes the importance of long-term recovery and the role that communities and peers play in the process.

A deep exploration on how questions of time and its organisation affect planning practice, this book questions ‘project speed’: where time to think, deliberate and plan has been squeezed. The authors demonstrate the many benefits of slow planning for the key participants, multiple interests and planning system overall.

Giving voice to the lived experiences of people with dementia across the globe, this text highlights the challenges presented as dementia care shifts to a community setting. Contributors address the social aspects of environment and, using a unique 'neighbourhood-centred’ perspective, provide an innovative guide for policy and practice.

This book introduces the concept of emotional politics. It shows how collective emotions, such as anger, shame, fear and disgust, are generated and reflected by official documents, politicians and the media.

Set within the context of Europe, this book demonstrates the contribution that community development can make to strengthening civil society. The book interweaves case studies with discussion of community development principles and theory to provide a critical and accessible approach.

This substantially revised edition of a highly topical text applies a critical approach to themes introduced in the first edition including economic development, heath and housing, and draws upon theory from Marx and Bourdieu to offer a clearer understanding of community in capitalist society.

This book brings together leading figures in democratic reform and civic engagement to show why and how better state-citizen cooperation is needed to improve democracy and achieve positive social change across a range of policy areas and in varied national contexts.

'Community' is a much used yet little understood term. Through a set of detailed case studies of communities in action this book examines the sources of community activism, the ways in which communities define themselves, and are defined by outsiders, and the nature of the interface between communities and public agencies via partnerships.

This book analyses a diverse range of experiences of Co-Creation in neighbourhood settings across the Global North and Global South. It brings together a unique collection of researchers, artists, residents and policymakers, all exploring creative ways to address neighbourhood challenges and effect change towards more socially just cities.