This article scrutinizes the ambiguous nature of community development (CD) in England. It does so by drawing attention to CD’s porous boundaries in relation to its allied community-based practices. Empirical evidence is provided – from national policy-making and the policy and practice in a case study local authority in England – that the Coalition government (2010–2015) exploited the ambiguity of CD by re-shaping its practices as social enterprise, volunteering and community organizing. This was to achieve a ‘new’ permutation of neoliberalism where civil society and its citizens provide local public services instead of ‘relying’ on state intervention and resources. The article concludes that the CD academic and practitioner field both shapes and is shaped by competing discourses of CD ‘fighting’ for hegemonic articulation. Yet, to the detriment of the field, this is rarely acknowledged nor engaged with.
The UK coalition government introduced the Community Organisers Programme in 2010, providing state funding to train community organizers in England for the first time. This article presents a case study in the north of England, exploring the implementation of the programme. It illustrates the challenges and contradictions faced by trainee community organizers and suggests lessons for community practitioners and policymakers of all political complexions in the United Kingdom and other countries.
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