Radical community development : we do talk politics here
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Other Title
Authors
Russell, Alastair
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Grantor
Date
2015-05-01
Supervisors
Type
Journal Article
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP)
benefit advocacy
social work
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
community development
Work and Income NZ
benefit advocacy
social work
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
community development
Work and Income NZ
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Russell, A. (2015) Radical community development: we do talk politics here, Whanake: The Pacific journal of community development, 1(1), 58-64. ISSN 2423-009X Retrieved from: http://www.unitec.ac.nz/epress
Abstract
Radical community development is explicitly political. It involves a combination of thought (analysis, debate, reflection) and action. Crucial to radical community development is standing with people experiencing oppression and against an oppressive status quo. Also crucial to radical community development is an understanding of both place and history. Implications of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the effects of the breaching of Te Tiriti by the Crown (government) are discussed along with how Auckland Action Against Poverty responds to this. Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) puts radical community development into practice. This paper provides detailed examples of how this is done, including organizing Benefit Impacts, which involves large numbers of advocates at a Work and Income office for three days. AAAP works with unemployed and low waged workers. There is an explicit rejection of professional social work as a model of engagement both within benefit advocacy and the range of other activities which AAAP does. Competent solidarity replaces this professionalism. The paper is based on the belief that it is possible to contribute to debate and practice from outside academia and from within community based knowledge. The ongoing challenge is to put thought into action for social change and social justice
Publisher
Unitec ePress
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DOI
Copyright holder
Unitec ePress
Copyright notice
Whanake: The Pacific Journal of Community Development is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand