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Community Practice Skills: Local to Global Perspectives resources

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COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITY PRACTICE IN LOCAL TO GLOBAL CONTEXTS ■ 11 come these problems. [It] . . . builds upon and strengthens interpersonal, social, and community relationships while establishing ongoing organizations that en- able people to sustain collective actions.” The community considered in the or ga niz ing pro cess may be defi ned by a geographic location or may apply to those with shared goals who are living and working in distant locations. Mi- chael Reisch (2005b) described or ga niz ing that emphasizes achieving social justice as radical community or ga niz ing that is “focused on the attainment of social justice and fundamental structural and institutional changes in commu- nities and society” (287). In his analysis of the root causes of social problems, Reisch bases his assumptions on the perspective that most existing social and economic structures have effectively prevented people of low wealth from reaching their optimum potential. He concludes that it is only with “the devel- opment of alternative economic, po liti cal, social, and ideological systems” that people of low wealth can hope to participate in community building (Reisch 2005b:278). In his work in Brazil, Paulo Freire (1972) used adult education as a method for community or ga niz ing and development. His “problem- posing education” brought groups of people together to examine their current problems in light of their contextual past. Working and learning with the poorest people in Brazil, Freire learned that people, “for whom immobility represents a fatal threat, for whom looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are,” can develop the capability to participate in and build their future (1972:57). Freire sought to foster this capability through a group discussion pro cess that he called conscientization. This pro cess involves bring- ing together a group to engage in refl ection and analysis of their present situa- tion, to plan for change based on understanding the past, to take action to change negative aspects of the present condition, and then reconvene to reassess and refl ect. Freire’s views on education and development are used in many parts of the world today (Castelloe and Gamble 2005; Chambers 1997; Hope, Timmel, and Hodzi 1995; Reisch, Wenocur, and Sherman 1981). The principle that underlies or ga niz ing derives from the demo cratic value that emphasizes how important it is that people be involved in decisions affect- ing their lives (Austin and Betten 1990; Kahn 1991). However, not all or ga niz ing efforts will be equally effective. If the community members do not perceive the organizers as “legitimate,” or if an institution outside the community imposes constraints on organizers’ efforts, then or ga niz ing is unlikely to succeed (Schmid and Salman 2005). When or ga niz ing is successful, the pro cess yields important effects on the psychosocial aspects of communities as well as benefi ts that im- prove the physical, social, and economic conditions of communities. These ef- fects of the or ga niz ing pro cess were noted by Mary Ohmer and Wynne Korr (2006), who found that or ga niz ing

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