Think Again offers weekly conversations and reflections about current events, trends and public pronouncements on contemporary and emerging issues. The show moves beyond what we read and hear via the public and ‘social’ media, to invite alternative possibilities to guide our thinking, living and organising.
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Think Again offers weekly conversations and reflections about current events, trends and public pronouncements on contemporary and emerging issues. The show moves beyond what we read and hear via the public and ‘social’ media, to invite alternative possibilities to guide our thinking, living and organising.
What is the place of 'community development' in creating social change?
Think Again
3 months ago
What is the place of 'community development' in creating social change?
Jacques and Jennifer explore the possibilities of 'community development' for creating social change.They first look at what we mean when we use the word 'community', and the 'development' of community. Then they move to the idea of 'relationality' as probably more meaningful and useful than the over-used 'community' (as introduced in the very first episode of 'Think Again'). This may include grassroots, horizontal relating, and verticle relating (up and down the system ) - with the most effective sites for change depending on the issue, context and point in time.Next, the hosts introduce the historical European principle of 'subsidiarity' - that higher levels of government defer to local levels (or community) if this is more effective. Finally, they highlight a dual imperative for community work - one that is human-personal and the other to pursue structural justice. Regenerating communities conference - October 2025References Demos UK (2021) The Social State: from transactional to relational public services…Ebrahim & Weisband (2007) Principles of Distributive Subsidiarity and Democracy… connect the lines between citizen activism, networks, accountability, and postmodern public ethics.’ (p.331).1981 Webster’s Third International Dictionary (Vol. III, p. 2279) 'subsidiarity' is a theory in sociology: functions which subordinate or local organizations perform effectively belong more properly to them than to a dominant central organisation’
Think Again
Think Again offers weekly conversations and reflections about current events, trends and public pronouncements on contemporary and emerging issues. The show moves beyond what we read and hear via the public and ‘social’ media, to invite alternative possibilities to guide our thinking, living and organising.
