Policy Press Class, inequality and community development (Rethinking Community Development)

This book, the second title in the Rethinking Community Development series, starts from concern about increasing inequality worldwide and the re-emergence of community development in public policy debates. It argues for the centrality of class analysis and its associated divisions of power to any discussion of the potential benefits of community development. It proposes that, without such an analysis, community development can simply mask the underlying causes of structural inequality. It may even exacerbate divisions between groups competing for dwindling public resources in the context of neoliberal globalisation. Reflecting on their own contexts, a wide range of contributors from across the global north and south explore how an understanding of social class can offer ways forward in the face of increasing social polarisation. The book considers class as a dynamic and contested concept and examines its application in policies and practices past and present. These include local/global and rural/urban alliances, community organising, ecology, gender and education. Review "Although community work/development is no longer in the repertoire of most social workers, this book reminds us what the possibilities once were and perhaps could be again."-- "Professional Social Work" "Quite simply a wonderful book about the challenge of rethinking what community development can become in the twenty-first century. . .deserves to be read widely."-- "Community Development Journal" "This coherent and timely collection makes the convincing case for social class to be moved from the sidelines back to the center of theory and practice in contemporary community development."--Mick Carpenter, University of Warwick, emeritus "Community Development Journal" "This wonderful new book is a welcomed contribution to the literature which relates community development to social class and public policy--with special emphasis on inequalities in society."--Barry Checkoway, University of Michigan "Community Development Journal" About the Author Mae Shaw is Senior Lecturer in Community Education at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. With a background in practice, she has a long established interest in the politics of community development and has published widely in this field. Marjorie Mayo is Emeritus Professor of Community Development, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research has included learning for active citizenship, and access to justice in disadvantaged communities.