Janki Andharia
Professor, JTCDM
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
26th August, 2012
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History of CO- CD India
CO in a disciplinary arena
Voluntary sector and social movements
Discontent of 1970s and Emergency
Impact on academia..
Debates and contestation
Constructive tension with social work
A Perspective
Community
development is a way of strengthening
civil society by prioritising the actions of communities,
and their perspectives in the development of social,
economic and environmental policy.
It
seeks the empowerment of local communities, taken
to mean both geographical communities, communities of
interest or identity and communities organising around
specific themes or policy initiatives.
It strengthens the capacity of people as active citizens
through their community groups, organisations and
networks;
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and strengthens the capacity of institutions and
agencies (public, private and non-governmental) to
work in dialogue with citizens to shape and determine
change in their communities.
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It plays a crucial role in supporting active democratic
life by promoting the autonomous voice of
disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
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It
has a set of core values/social principles covering
human rights, social inclusion, equality and respect for
diversity; and specific skills and knowledge base
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India- world’s largest democracy, 7th largest
country
Accounts for 2.4 % of the world’s surface area but
supports 17 % of the world’s population.
One of the world’s oldest civilization with a rich
and diverse cultural heritage
In its 65 years of independence- considerable
progress- self sufficiency in agriculture, 10th
industrialized country and 6th to go into outer space
On the flip side India houses the largest number of
poor in a single country
80 % belong to the socially disadvantaged groups
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A new nation free from nearly 200 years of colonial
rule - several challenges.
Feudalism with widespread poverty
Very low literacy levels
Social and economic inequalities
Over 90% of the population lived in rural areas
where agriculture was dependent on the monsoons
and the standard of living was very low
Power and wealth were concentrated in the hands of
a few.
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Although enormous efforts were made to implement
redistributive measures such as land reforms,
progress was slow and the socialist goals met only
partial success
The Five-year Plans were initiated in 1951, aimed at
economic growth and enhanced investment rates to
address poverty
During each of the 5 Year Plans, government
involvement in social welfare increased, creating the
need for trained personnel in community welfare.
CD strategy of involving people in taking action to
meet their needs was pioneered in India in the 1950s.
Historical Trajectory of CO and CD in India
1950s and 1960s
Community Development in India: Government Programs
Practice
Academia Trends
CO: A method in Social Work
Community studies
CD approach adopted
Voluntary sector: Diverse
Reformers
Charity organizations,
Locality development,
Welfare services
1980s
 Critique of policies and programme
ineffectiveness.
 Growing political debates on issues of
poverty and social justice, social action on
several issues
1970s-1980s
Changing perspectives of CO: Drawing from sectoral
developments, political and social debates on
‘development’ and social justice- constructive
tension with social work
Critique of social work and its
politically “neutral” positioning, its
western moorings
Range of social movements and
grassroots initiatives entailing
collective assertion and action
1990s-2000
CO – Redefined
Deeper faculty engagements in issues
Grounding in complexities of field
Sharper practice perspectives and theoretical underpinnings
 Negotiating spaces with clearer ideological positioning
Ideological Orientation
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, ACCESS TO ENTITLEMENTS, PROPOOR,
SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUALITY, DIGNITY, RIGHTS OF
MARGINALIZED
CO – TOWARDS A REFLEXIVE POSTURE IN SOCIAL WORK
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Launched and carried out by the government,
without the involvement of any voluntary
organizations
It remained rural specific with a block identified as
the community.
Subsequently, a large body of literature showed that
the impact of these programmes on poverty
alleviation was limited.
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The CD strategy of welfare and outreach was
criticized as
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a top-down, centrally-guided and centrally-sponsored
program
with a management approach rooted in a liberal ideological
framework.
At the policy level, it was abandoned in the 1960s in
favor of the more growth-oriented agricultural
development program
From 1970s - Growth of voluntary sector and social
movements –mobilizing around class and poverty
concerns
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Historically, as a discipline, community studies
developed as a subset of sociology through the 1880s
to 1920s
The term community organization - first introduced
in the US during World War I by sociologists and
adult educators, although the intellectual foundation
of CO was laid through the work and experiences of
community workers during the 1920s
The Lane Report of 1939 to the National Conference
of Social Work identified CO as a field of social work
practice, and it has been taught largely in schools of
social work since 1940s.
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In India too, schools of social work introduced
community organization as a method of social work
in the 1950s
Much of the curriculum of social work was imported
from North America and teachers emulated western
approaches and methods with considerable
enthusiasm of introducing a new profession.
The methods were differentiated by identifying units
of intervention (individuals, groups, communities)
and casework was one of the most dominant
methods in social work in India in its early years of
inception
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Internationally through 1960s and 1970s community
studies were marginalized within sociology,
although community practice and community
organization grew within social work during this
period
Several international journals -dedicated to the
theme of community development and community
practice.
Gradually a distinctive body of literature around
community studies developed through individual
contributions from across disciplinary boundaries—
sociology, anthropology, geography and urban
studies.
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Disillusioned youth- benefits of devt did not reach
the majority of Indian villages
Several nationalist and idealist youth began to
address issues of education, health, poverty, the
practice of bonded labor and so on
All these impacted upon CO practice and inspired
social workers some of whom joined these groups.
Mobilization of farmers, workers, students, youth,
tribals, dalits and women India around class and
poverty concerns
Non party political formations and mass based
organisations
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Some authors view the emergence of grassroots
groups in the 1970s and 80s as a revival of the CD
strategy
Emphasis not only on decentralized and
community-based services, but also on political
action .
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1970s and the post emergency period saw a renewed
enthusiasm for activism due to its oppressive nature.
A number of action groups were formedChallenged feudal and dominant relations,
campaigned for human rights (struggle for land
rights, minimum wages, liberation of bonded labour,
fought against forest contractors and agitated against
construction of big dams such as Silent Valley Project
and Koel Karo Project).
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It is now recognized that the institutional, social and
political processes of welfare and development were
led more effectively by the voluntary sector.
This sector grew as ideologies, perspectives,
approaches and strategies expanded.
The sector had no “professional” boundariesDoctors, engineers, political science graduates,
lawyers and people from diverse backgrounds and
disciplines committed themselves to development
work.
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Social activists organized for asserting rights of
people to determine decisions that affected their
lives, emphasized collective action, mutual support
and active participation as citizens of a democratic
nation.
They challenged feudal practices, demanded
resources and greater accountability from the
bureaucracy and elected representatives.
These strategies and their successes forced a reexamination of the CD approach within academia.
The divide between community development of
social work and that of grassroots mobilization
increased.
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Compelled a review of the way CD was taught in
the academia.
Since social workers in the academia were slow in
theorizing and bringing in these practice
perspectives, they continued to reproduce western
and conventional ideas of “problem fixing.” rather
than address structural issues
The spirit of critical engagement with the social
context was lacking
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Community practitioners learnt and borrowed from
other professions and disciplines as well as
contributed in a vast measure to this process.
They successfully initiated and aligned themselves
with progressive forces within each of the
development sectors, a trend not as pervasive in the
developed countries where social workers operated
within 'statutory welfare' and were increasingly
criticized for being “an arm of the state.”
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The wide gulf between social work educators
relying on western texts and community
practitioners in India has been extensively
discussed and critiqued at seminars and
workshops of 198s and 1990s
A conscious effort was made by faculty members
of certain universities to ground the course on CO
and the social work curriculum in perspective
building and political analysis.
This was done through active engagement in a
range of processes, which reflect the trajectory of
the evolution of the CO perspective. It also marks
the constructive turmoil within social work.
The wide gulf between social work educators relying on western texts and community practitioners in India has been extensively discus
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Challenging the apolitical ‘person in need’,
‘problem solving’, ‘adaptation’, ‘improving social
functioning’ –approaches or language of social work
Over prescriptive and one dimensional application of
‘solutions’ from above
Constructing “clients” of bureaucratic provisions or
“targets” of social work interventions
Totalizing frameworks of social work curriculum
borrowed from the west often undermined cultural
specificities and contexts
The wide gulf between social work educators relying on western texts and community practitioners in India has been extensively discus
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A few individual teachers of CO were decisively
influenced by these experiences and other
writings. They encouraged the questioning of the
continued validity of the language of “social
work” and the hegemonic tendencies within the
discipline.
However teachers who inculcated and advanced
the premises of locating the centrality of
marginalized communities within the core
domain of community organization in the class
rooms as also in the sites of practice, themselves
remained on the margins of the dominant
paradigm of social work in India.!!
The wide gulf between social work educators relying on western texts and community practitioners in India has been extensively discus
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Unless practice oriented disciplines accept the
complexity of a given social context and the
ambiguities, contradictions, and inconsistencies, they
will continue to have a myopic and fragmented
approach, and will fail to address in more
encompassing ways, the lives and struggles of
people they work with.
The preparedness to question the basic ‘tools’ and
methodologies, bringing alternate discourse and
practices in the academia closer to the daily lives and
struggles of people is continuous a challenge.
The wide gulf between social work educators relying on western texts and community practitioners in India has been extensively discus
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Within social work, assuming a critical, self reflexive
posture has invited criticism from senior social work
educators occupying positions of power and
authority.
Many of them subscribe to a fixed posture of
traditional social work and push for a homogenized
view of social work in their respective universities in
India.
Those who advocate alternate views are sometimes
confronted with a subtle allegation of “lack of
loyalty” to the discipline!!
The wide gulf between social work educators relying on western texts and community practitioners in India has been extensively discus
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The perspective and the disciplinary frameworks
used by a practitioner offer different routes to the
articulation of priorities and contain different
“political sub texts” of social change.
Implicit in these political sub-texts are different
ideologies and views of practitioners.
It is here that the tension between ad hoc
provisioning of services within social work practice
and the political and ideological positioning of
community organization becomes evident. (CSR)
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In India, CO as a process encompasses all efforts
that seek to redefine power relations which
contribute to the experience of discrimination and
marginalization.
Therefore, CO entails efforts not just at the level of
communities but with social structures and with
democratic institutions of governance.
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In India, progressive community organization
practice takes as its basis, the inequalities in society
manifested through processes of marginalization,
discrimination or disempowerment of groups.
These processes have also implied loss of control
over traditional community resources.
Therefore CO is a para-political process, aimed
towards redistribution of resources and power in
favor of the poor and the vulnerable.
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It is seen as a means as well as an end, where
collective processes are sought to be institutionalized
in order to sustain the community’s capacity to bring
about change as well as enhance responsiveness of
state institutions (legislature, executive and judiciary)
to concerns of social justice.
Grassroots organizing, efforts at improving access to
services and/or their quality and advocacy, are
aspects of CO process.
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While analyzing and addressing inequality and
discrimination in society, various factors—
including caste, class, religion, age, and gender—
assume significance.
These factors are also critical in disaggregating
communities, in analyzing the complexities of
inequality and in determining the nature of
intervention strategies.
The conceptual framework of the Rights Based
Approach to development assumes significance in
this context.