A pervasive anti-statism often blinds us to the democratic victories in the past and thus to possibilities in our future. This article argues that big government can democratize society and uses historical investigation to make the point. The study of history emancipates us from the tyranny of the present. Progressive social change has come about…

Two major concerns of American life are searching for community and determining the extent to which the citizenry of a community ought to be involved in the decision-making process. While they may disagree on how much citizen participation is desirable, almost every scholar of urban life believes that citizen participation is a good and viable…

Development agents need to examine their assumptions, motivations, neutrality, and terminology, which is often imprecise and misleading. The combined cooperativist and constructivist approach has proved successful in overcoming these problems. (SK)

Argues that those activities variously called community development, organization, action, or education involve the imposition of the values and beliefs of community workers or agencies upon their clientele and that community work has a strong, albeit unintentional, manipulative or exploitative aspect. (SK)

Attempts to discover how and why community development has been used in the past, and to formulate some ideas on prospects for community development in the future. (CT)

Constructivist listening is a tool for empowerment, community building, and educational change. It enables teachers and principals to think of themselves and their schools as centers for learning and change rather than as the target of change efforts for others. It enables people to assume responsibility for their actions and feelings. (Author)

The Agricultural Women's Leadership Network illustrates the following processes of social change in gendered organizations: (1) change begins as social networks expand to focus on issues; (2) women's organizations gain a foothold during economic crises; (3) new interdependencies bring new organizational alliances; (4) change continues as identity…

Most city planners and governmental agencies are White and have a "laissez faire" attitude toward poor Blacks. Black citizens, professionals, city planners, and social change agents can and must play an active role in the Black community's self-planning efforts. (Author/MC)

Discusses the role of rural public libraries in the information age. Characteristics of rural communities that library planners should consider are conservatism, the lack of professionally trained librarians, library trustee involvement, the need for marketing, and gender balance. Suggestions for recreating rural libraries and providing…

The roles of change agents in community development are manifest (surface actions of agents interacting with clients) and latent (derived from undercurrents that give directions to the agents' actions). Manifest roles are as starter (facilitator, analyzer, leadership developer); go-between (informer, linker); and accomplisher (organizer,…

Divided into two areas of emphasis, this paper explores the potential of non-formal education in developing countries and non-formal education as it relates to the Dominican Republic. The first section presents background material on non-formal education and discusses types of programs being applied in a number of countries throughout the world.…

Argues that, despite the provision of community-based educational services, community colleges do not play a key role in social change in their communities. Reviews the history of community development in the colleges, suggesting that original goals were designed to be noncontroversial. Discusses increasing foundation support to address community…

Rural Africa includes some 80% of the African population; its people are poverty stricken, illiterate, ill-sheltered, and ill-nourished. These circumstances make rural development absolutely vital. However, past rural development policies have failed to take into consideration the structure and division of labor in the farm family, the traditional…

This paper analyzes principles of knowledge diffusion and provides a framework for applying new ideas or innovations, particularly in relation to rural community development. As new knowledge is created or old knowledge is found to have new applications, the art of spreading knowledge and managing innovation has become more crucial in both urban…