Reviews discourses of citizenship in community development work: inactive citizens, the stucturalist critique of the welfare state, marketization (citizen as consumer), and democratic renewal through active citizenship. Suggests that community workers can serve as key agents in revitalizing the connections among community work, citizenship, and…

Do the actions and agency of citizens in civil society affect the public sphere? Whether these people and their activities contribute a discourse of the public or only a marginal realm is critical to understanding the relationship among community development, civil society, and social change. (Author/JOW)

A case study of health reform in British Columbia followed four health-planning groups' efforts to foster community participation by developing local community health plans. Findings from the case study can inform the theory and practice of community development. (JOW)