Suchergebnisse

Collates knowledge and examines the role and nature of community groups and activities operating outside of the formal voluntary sector in the UK to develop a coherent understanding about these so-called ""below the radar"" organisations.

The Cookbook contains 21 attractive and participatory evaluation exercises for use with children, young people and families/community groups. Attractively and clearly presented, the exercises are very easy to use and come with suggestions for use and instructions on how to create the equipment needed

AbstractThere is a growing public and academic debate on the societal impacts of the internet and, in particular, social media. For its proponents, social media is a force for change, which can challenge entrenched hierarchies, redistribute power, democratize information, support mass mobilization and contribute to the building of global movements. Increasingly such positivist arguments are being questioned. Critics argue that it has become a sinister force, facilitating the spread of 'fake news', providing an instrument for citizen surveillance and re-enforcing neoliberal hegemony. The community development literature has barely engaged in those debates around social media that appear urgent in other disciplines. Social media has been seen as a value-free tool for broadcasting and dissemination, and neither evaluated as a force for change nor examined as an instrument of neoliberal intents. Although there is a community development literature on neoliberalism and globalization, it often accepts these, rather than critiques them, as the contexts within which community development operates. Challenging established power imbalances and enhancing citizen participation in democratic processes are purposes central to community development values. Analysis of wider literature raises questions with regard to the values embedded in the technologies from which enhanced levels of participation and engagement are expected to flow. It also raises questions about who benefits most from the affordances of these technologies. This article, drawing on an extensive literature review, presents the case for community development values to be asserted in these debates.

Interest in the formal voluntary sector and wider civil society organisations (CSOs) has grown in recent years and now CSOs are viewed as key to delivering government policy agendas of social action, open public services and localism. This article uses data from 29 interviews with community activists, policy makers and voluntary sector experts to explore the role, function and workings of small-scale civil society organisations (SCSOs). It finds that small-scale activity often emerges as an emotional response to local need, shared interest or the desire for social interaction rather than in response to policy initiatives. SCSOs call on a wide range of resources garnered within their community of geography or of interest. They thrive in unregulated environments providing flexible and holistic services for people in need. The article argues that the co-option of such activities into the delivery of political agendas is unlikely to achieve policy goals.

Social enterprise has become an important component of governmental social and economic policy in both the UK and South Korea over the last decade. Both countries have experienced a growth in social businesses, with the UK recently adopting targets for the number of social enterprises established. Whilst the emphasis in the UK has been on their role in developing mixed economies of care and building entrepreneurial skills in deprived communities, the South Korean model has been more closely allied to US 'welfare to work' strategies. The paper explores these differences and critically examines the capacity of social enterprises to meet wider social and economic objectives.