Unit 2
Community Development Practice: A Comparative Perspective

Unit 2 compares community development practices around the world. Part 1 deals with community development experiences in the Southern world. It focuses particularly on the Tanzanian developmental experiment, (based on the traditional principles of African socialism or ujamaa) as well as CD activities in Ghana and Bangladesh. In all of these countries, community development programming is essentially concerned with addressing the problem of poverty.

Part 2 examines CD programming in Canada in general and in Canadian Aboriginal communities in particular. Three programs that highlight Canadian CD programming in general include CD activities carried out by the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT) in Toronto; a CD housing program of the Entre Nous Femmes (ENF) in Vancouver, BC (created and managed by women who are single parents); and programs of the Better Beginnings Better Future (BBBF) project of Guelph, ON. The second category of Canadian CD programming concerns Canadian Aboriginal communities. The theme of local involvement is strong in this section. Any CD process undertaken in Aboriginal communities must be based on Aboriginal cultural values and traditions and must reflect cultural and social environments as well as economic and biophysical environments; CD process depends on local community members to play the role of expert advisers. Modernization in Indian communities is also an issue. This unit discusses community economic development in terms of technology, obstacles to modernization, the need for local control, and natural resource development strategies. To see CD principles in their context, Part 2 looks at government-sponsored CD programs implemented in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario.

Gender and development—the role of women in the development process—is the subject of Part 3. Unit readings trace the impact of colonization on the traditional roles of Aboriginal women and on their social, economic, and political status within their communities. The status of women declined under the influence of European settlers, colonial administrators and advisers, and missionaries. Renewed interest in women’s participation—social, economical, and political—in community development activities took place during the United Nations Decade for Women (1975–1985).

Objectives

After completing Unit 2, you should be able to

1. Compare CD experience in communities in Africa and Asia and in communities in Canada and Chile.
2. Assess the effectiveness of CD programming in solving social and economic problems in Tanzania, Ghana, Bangladesh, Canada, and Chile.
3. Identify common problems of CD practices in communities in Tanzania, Ghana, Bangladesh, Canada, and Chile.
4. Discuss, in some detail, selected CD projects or programs implemented in Tanzania, Ghana, Bangladesh, Canada, and Chile.
5. Ascertain the effectiveness of efforts to integrate women fully in CD programming in development approaches of Southern governments and the Canadian federal government.
6. Identify problems faced by women attempting to participate fully in the community development process of Canadian and Southern countries.