Clarifies the value-laden meanings of "community" in community work discourse. Centers on the concepts of Gemeinschaft (community), Gesellschaft (association), and Bund (league or federation). Examines the insights of community studies and the practice of community work within the Judeo-Christian value system. (SK)

Community work is critical pedagogy because it is located at the interface of liberation and domination. Community workers are situated either as perpetuators of the status quo or as agents of transformative change. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

Inauthentic participation may be limited to providing inputs, giving the community no power. However, even weak participation in the form of utilization, contributions, enlistment, cooperation, and consultation can have benefits. (Author/SK)

The author discusses ritual as a process of creating social frameworks through the mobilization of communal sentiment and purpose. He presents a case study in which the ritual process was applied by an external change agent to develop social partnerships and local support for the establishment of a community center. (SK)

Attempts to clarify empowerment as used in black communities in the United Kingdom, using Liverpool as a case study. Illustrates the ambiguity of the concept and the incomplete success of empowerment initiatives for community development and improvement. (SK)

A survey of 26 human service agencies in an empowerment zone found the following: 73% used interns, few from social work; 57% used empowerment in mission statements (more economic than social agencies); 69% of these wanted community practice interns; and higher-budget agencies were better able to negotiate the empowerment zone system. (Contains 20…

Principles for participatory community development are as follows: humility and respect; power of local knowledge; democratic practice; diverse ways of knowing; sustainability; reality before theory; uncertainty; relativity of time and efficiency; holistic approach; and decisions rooted in the community. (SK)

Mobilization of citizen participation in grassroots organizations can be adversely affected when grassroots leaders perceive a lack of support. Periodic organizational diagnosis can lead to more equitable division of responsibilities and recruitment of more leaders and skilled participants. (SK)

Provides an overview of the issues facing community development in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Discusses possibilities for international cooperation across Europe in the 1990s. (SK)

Describes community planning as an empowering professional practice. Compares the empowerment practices of process-focused and product-focused planning. Uses stages of rational comprehensive planning and stages of community empowerment as the context. (SK)

This article briefly describes and analyzes (in a historical perspective) the role of local neighborhood committees as they exist in hundreds of urban neighborhoods in Israel, describes the study procedures and the research findings, and in the final part discusses and analyzes the findings. (CT)

This article examines some of the reasons why community workers get involved with neighborhood information centers, and shows how unrealistic expectations of these workers can limit and disguise the achievements of these centers. (SK)

Relationship between neighborhood characteristics and community development corporations (CDCs) was examined in Jackson, Mississippi. CDCs were more likely to be in neighborhoods with significant numbers of disenfranchised groups and disinvestment in the built environment. They act as subcontractors, which limits their power and mirrors structural…

Cluster communities, voluntary alliances between communities to address common problems, can be facilitated by government financial support; state policies, laws, and regulations permitting collaboration; and educational programs. Education should focus on reconceptualizing "community" and fostering regional belonging. (SK)

Cross-site observation of Lifting New Voices, a national initiative to involve youth in community development, indicated the following: (1) youth participation has multiple impacts; (2) facilitating factors are youth as leaders, adult allies, and intergenerational bridges; and (3) obstacles include conditioning, withdrawal of disadvantaged…