Community Development and the Politics of Local Government

Abstract

In this article, I want to discuss professional community development in relation to the changing political context of local government. The central argument I wish to make is that community development, both at the level of policy and practice cannot be understood, without also understanding the ways in which the role of local government has been transformed in recent years.  Whilst Community development often means many things to many people, I want to argue that a narrow view of community development has been constructed by local authorities who have drawn upon its language and methodology in order to restructure the local state and more recently, to facilitate spending cuts.