Community Action in the Social Sciences Perspective 3.

It is participated by well-informed members;

Every social science discipline emphasizes a particular 4. It results to decisions made through a consensus
view towards collective action. For instance from the among community members It encourages group
perspective of sociology, collective action points building. Leadership development, and capacity
towards. The capacity of communities to act and building among community members, while
behave as a social unit. It places emphasis on the addressing the issue at hand;
interventions for forging and strengthening
5. It uses a systematic approach in addressing local
interrelationships among individuals within a
concerns;
community. Sociology examines how a community
collectively identifies its problems, decides on the 6. It is an examination of community problems and
course of action, and assesses whether or not its issues in its entirety, and not as isolated and
actions has led to its well-being independent cases;
Community Action in the Social Sciences Perspective 7. It uses processes that are flexible and may be
applied to other community concerns and
On the other hand, an anthropological perspective
lends insight to the local history and culture 8. It is initiated often as a result of potential or locally
Community as factors of community action. perceived crisis.
Anthropology puts forward the view that solutions to
community problems should be appropriate to the Community Development
experience and identity of the community. This Community development is pursued and achieved
perspective also implies that the most valid source of when citizens, by virtue of their solidarity, implement
community action is the community itself. The way community action. Solidarity is crucial as it
communities assess their needs, issues, and problems strengthens the bond and unites people to act in a
depend on their context. Political science emphasizes concerted, collective manner. In addition, solidarity
the realities of power-sharing and decision-making a roots from a sense of social agreement and shared
political science perspective aids in the examination of consciousness. It, therefore, initiates and sustains any
the interaction between interest groups within and collective effort. Solidarity also occurs beyond the
outside the community, as they express and mobilize limits of a community, allowing people from different
advocacies, values, beliefs, and resources for specific communities to express support, even lend capacities
interests. and resources.
Community Action in the Social Sciences Perspective Different approaches
Political science also underscores the necessity for There are numerous overlapping approaches to
communities to learn and understand the exercise of community development. Some focus on the
power and the mobilization of the interests of processes, some on the outcomes/ objectives. They
stakeholders. It draws attention towards how the include:
exercise of power shapes social interaction, the
formation of alliances, the prospects to competition -Community Enaanement; focuses on relationships at
and conflict in the process of decision-making, and the the core of facilitating "understanding and evaluation,
general power structure in the community. involvement, exchange of information and opinions,
about a concept, issue or project, with the aim of
Community Development building social capital and enhancing social outcomes
Community development is a condition in which the through decision-making"
capacity of people are enhanced. Thus them to •Women Self-help Group; focusing on the
participate in collective action. Ultimately, this is all
contribution of women in settlement groups.
done to promote community well-being. Isolated
projects and activities implemented in the communities •Community capacity building; focusing on helping
that do nor goals of community development are communities obtain, strengthen, and maintain the
simply community/outreach projects or activities. ability to set and achieve their own development
objectives.
1. The process of community development has the
following characteristics: Large Group Capacitation; an adult education and
social psychology approach grounded in the activity of
2. It involves participation from a big segment of the
the individual and the social psychology of the large
community
group focusing on large groups of unemployed or
semi-employed participants, many of whom with •Community organizing; an approach that generally
Lower Levels of Literacy (LLLs). assumes that social change necessarily involves
conflict and social struggle in order to generate
Social Capital Formation: focusing on benefits derived
collective power for the powerless.
from the cooperation between individuals and groups
•Town-making; or machizukuri refers to a Japanese
•Nonviolent direct action; when a group of people
concept which is "an umbrella term generally
take action to reveal an existing problem, highlight an
understood as citizen participation in the planning and
alternative, or demonstrate a possible solution to a
management of a living environment.
social issue which is not being addressed through
traditional societal institutions (governments, religious •Language revitalization focuses on the use of a
organizations or established trade unions) to the language so that it serves the needs of a community.
satisfaction of the direct action participants. This may involve the creation of books, films and
other media in the language. These actions help a small
•Economic development, focusing on the
language community to preserve their language and
"development" of developing countries as measured by
culture.
their economies, although it includes the processes and
policies by which a nation improves the economic, IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
political, and social well-being of its people.
Brown and Isaac (1994) identified the six Cs of a
'Community economic development (CED); an successful community engagement. These are
alternative to conventional economic development capability, commitment, contribution, continuity,
which encourages using local resources in a way that collaboration, and conscience.
enhances economic outcomes while improving social
conditions. For example, CED involves strategies
which aim to improve access to affordable housing,
medical, and child care.

➢ A worker cooperative is a progressive CED strategy

that operates as businesses both managed and owned
by their employees. They are beneficial due to their
potential to create jobs and providing a route for
grassroots political action. Some challenges that the
worker cooperative faces include the mending of the
cooperative's identity as both business and as a
democratic humanitarian organization. They are
limited in resources and scale.
•Sustainable development; which seeks to achieve, in
a balanced manner, economic development, social
development and environmental protection outcomes.
'Community-driven development an economic
development model which shifts overreliance on
central governments to local communities.
-Asset-based community development (ABCD); is a
methodology that seeks to uncover and use the
strengths within communities as a means for
sustainable development.
•Community-based participatory research (CBPR); a
partnership approach to research that equitably
involves, for example, community members,
organizational representatives, and researchers in all
aspects of the research process and in which all
partners contribute expertise and share decision
making and ownership, which aims to integrate this
knowledge with community development outcomes.