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Community Capacity Building: Critiquing the Concept in Different Policy Contexts

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Challenging Capacity Building

Part of the book series: Rethinking International Development Series ((RID))

Abstract

Fifteen years ago, the term ‘community capacity building’ (CCB) could not be found within the policy literature in the United Kingdom. Now it is ubiquitous, particularly in the context of urban policy, regeneration and social development. By 2000, a UK report described CCB as ‘the New Holy Grail’ (Duncan and Thomas, 2000:15), noting that the government’s major national regeneration programme contained more than 3000 separate CCB initiatives, and Soares (2005) observed, ‘any mention of civil society seems to include the term “capacity building”’. Increasing use of the term, however, raised more questions than it answered. Why is this and is there anything truly distinctive about the notion of community capacity building? This chapter reviews the origins of the concept, the way in which it is currently used across the world, offering a critique of this usage in a range of policy and political contexts.1

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Authors
  1. Gary Craig
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human Rights, Deakin University, Australia

    Sue Kenny (Director) (Director)

  2. School of International and Political Studies, Deakin University, Australia

    Matthew Clarke (Deputy Head) (Deputy Head)

Copyright information

© 2010 Gary Craig

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Craig, G. (2010). Community Capacity Building: Critiquing the Concept in Different Policy Contexts. In: Kenny, S., Clarke, M. (eds) Challenging Capacity Building. Rethinking International Development Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230298057_3

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