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Concluding Thoughts on Building Community Power

from Part VI - Education and Engaged Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2024

Brian D. Christens
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

The chapters in this book have each examined different approaches to building community power through organizations and participatory processes. Some of these approaches represent long-standing and widespread forms of practice (e.g., community organizing, neighborhood associations, participatory urban planning) that are continuously evolving. Other approaches are more emergent or are currently spreading to more localities (e.g., action civics, participatory budgeting) and are exerting influences on existing organizations and forms of practice. Research into each of these approaches varies accordingly, with some approaches having a robust foundation of research-based insights and others that have only recently become the focus of empirical studies. The contributors to this book are at the forefront of advancing research on each of these types of community empowerment processes. Many of them are doing so from an action research orientation, in collaboration with the organizations, initiatives, and networks that are establishing and supporting these efforts.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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