Overview of the book

in the UK, arguing that: ‘Community development occurs when the conditions of surviving and thriving in a place are not being supplied by capital.’ This highlights the need to connect geographical communities to the ‘far greater resources, opportunities and power that lie outside [them]’ (DeFilippis and Saegert, 2012, p 6). Descriptions from elsewhere in the world emphasise the need to develop political awareness alongside skills, confidence and resources developed through popular education and social movements (see Ledwith, 2020). Readers may find it a useful exercise to come up with a definition that reflects their own experience and circumstances, and to compare this with other descriptions.

Overview of the book

This Short Guide starts in Chapter 2 by reviewing a range of understandings of community development, describing different models and how they compare with related approaches and concepts. The next two chapters look at context and theory. Chapter 3 lays out the policies and other factors that have shaped community development over the years, and the policy themes that it is expected to address. In Chapter 4 we review some of the theories that can help inform community development practice, focusing particularly on theories of community, identity, the state, collective organisation and power. Chapters 5 and 6 come back to the practice of community development. Chapter 5 considers the skills, values and techniques that constitute ‘good’ community development practice: how to do it, why certain principles work best and what kind of infrastructure is needed to support it. Chapter 6 describes how it can be applied in different policy fields, including a commitment to incorporating equality into all aspects of the work. The final two chapters explore the challenges that face community development. Chapter 7 examines various issues and dilemmas that are inherent within the practice and politics of community development, while Chapter 8 looks at external trends that are likely to affect its future prospects.

The Guide is written from a UK perspective. However, we have referred to experience and debates elsewhere in the world, particularly