Building Community Capacity (Modern Applications of Social Work)
“Building Community Capacity makes a major contribution to the community development literature in a variety of ways. First, it presents an amazing synthesis of literature related to leadership development, organizational development, community organizing and organizational collaboration while managing to be both accessible and critical. Second, treatment of the typically controversial topic of ‘conflict versus consensus’ organizing is pragmatic and insightful. Finally, the most compelling features of the book is the thorough integration of examples into the conceptual discussion. For each point made, an illustrative real-world example follows. In addition, detailed case examples of three organizations and brief synopses of the work of more than twenty other organizations appear in the appendices.”—Michelle Livermore,Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare“Building Community Capacity… addresses a broad constituency of theorists, activists and practitioners, focused on urban renewal and social change. In this work their focus is upon the amelioration of poverty in urban settings. They seek to revitalize a community’s understanding of itself through examining its shared misfortunes…Building Community Capacityis successful in providing a venue for renewed interests and commitments with the underclass through grass roots community action… What Chaskin, Brown, Venkatesh, and Vidal provide is the deepening relevance of community capacity-building, especially in an increasingly class stratified American society.”—Edward J. Martin,Administrative Theory & Praxis“We continually hear the buzzwords “community building,” “social capital,” “human capital,” and “community collaborations.” All these buzzwords and more are deciphered and broken down in Building Community Capacity.”—Michael Eichler,APA Journal“If policymakers have not been serious about addressing urban problems, that is not the case for many scholars within and outside of academic institutions. The authors of this volume are serious students of the city. This book reflects that concern….Building Community Capacityidentifies some of the most difficult issues facing policymakers, scholars, and residents of the nation’s older urban communities. It offers many useful insights into the contours of human, organizational, and community capacity and development.”—Gregory D. Squires,Contemporary Sociology“Understanding that urban restoration requires a comprehensive approach, government, foundations, and funding intermediaries have established an array of comprehensive community building initiatives (CCBIs) to coordinate the rebuilding efforts of local social service, redevelopment, and, at times, empowerment organizations…. [T]his book is a valuable contribution.”—Herbert J. Rubin,Social Service Review