The Short Guide to Community Development: (Short Guides)

Now in its second edition, this invaluable guide provides an introduction to community development, its origins and the different forms it takes. It has been updated to reflect developments in policy and practice, as well as recent debates about the changing nature of community development itself. Accessibly written, this is essential reading for students, as well as those already involved in community development and community organising.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; What is community development?; The changing context of community development; Theoretical concepts; Effective and ethical community development: what’s needed?; Applying community development in different service areas; Challenges for practice; Current and future trends.

About the Author :
Marilyn Taylor has extensive experience of research and practice in the community development field. She is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Voluntary Action Research in the UK and Emeritus Professor, University of the West of England. Alison Gilchrist has worked for over three decades in community development: as an activist, practitioner, trainer, researcher and manager, including several years at the Community Development Foundation. She now works as an independent consultant.

Review :
"It's an extremely useful publication, which presents some refreshingly straightforward observations, whilst acknowledging the complexity of the politics and the practice. I will recommend it to students". Mae Shaw, Institute of Education, University of Edinburgh "At £11.99, this short guide is a handy reference and a bargain, and an attractive and cleanly designed pocket book. It will be required reading for students." James Derounian in Voluntary Sector Review "A great resource - so well written and informative." Sarah Banks, Professor of Community and Youth Work, Durham University "An extremely useful introductory text, which covers all of the essential building blocks for an up-to-date understanding of the practice of community development work in the United Kingdom" Dr Rosemary Moreland, University of Ulster "The Short Guide to Community Development is a valuable and concise contemporary account of community development." Community Development Journal "Community development has undergone substantial changes in the past 5 years. This extensively revised edition of the Short Guide captures those changes succinctly and accessibly, Crucially, it poses a number of important challenges for the future of community development values, theory and practice. Essential reading." Angus McCabe, Birmingham University "Accessible and clear, whilst avoiding oversimplification, The Short Guide to Community Development provides an excellent basis for understanding both the appeal and the difficulty of contemporary community development." Mae Shaw, University of Edinburgh "Essential reading for practitioners as well as students concerned with community development. The inclusion of theoretical and ethical issues is particularly welcome, alongside the implications for practice." Marjorie Mayo, Professor of Community Development, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. "The history of UK community development is littered with the state's attempts to co-opt it to promote its own interests, however unfair and divisive. This excellent, elegant and easily digestible guide, written by two leading experts, cuts through the mystique to show precisely what community development should and should not be about." Gary Craig, Professor of Community Development and Social Justice, Durham University, UK.