Working with communities-of-place: complexities of empowerment

Sarah Skerratt, Artur Steiner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recent legislative and other policy-related developments seek to enhance local agenda-setting through empowered communities. However, community development is separated from community empowerment, thus implicitly supporting a more uncritical perspective of empowerment processes. In this article we: (1) focus on communities who do not engage; (2) identify in-community sub-groups and differences as the norm rather than exception; (3) recognise the backwards and forwards motion of community development processes; (4) identify the fluidity of in-community interests and powers; and (5) recognise differences between individual and community-level aspirations. We use evidence from a development project which targets communities that do not engage. Based on interviews with the project manager, project officer, and 155 community members, we conclude that: demoting capacity-building betrays an intrinsic and naïve belief in self-fulfilling processes of community empowerment, rather than acknowledgement of complexities; there is a need, therefore, to remain sceptical in order that analyses are sensitive to complexities of empowerment.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)320-338
Number of pages19
JournalLocal Economy
Volume28
Issue number3
Early online date13 Feb 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2013

Keywords

  • community empowerment
  • community engagement
  • community resilience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Working with communities-of-place: complexities of empowerment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this