Community development in a global context

Abstract

Community development is often thought of as an essentially local approach to problem-solving. With the globalization of the economy, and the emergence of transnational organizations concerned with social and/or economic issues, community development needs to rethink its approach to incorporate a global dimension. This paper sets out some of the parameters for that debate, reflecting both on how global processes affect local communities and ways in which community development workers can make use of global mechanisms.