Download or read book International Encyclopedia of Civil Society written by Helmut K. Anheier and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 1722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently the topic of civil society has generated a wave of interest, and a wealth of new information. Until now no publication has attempted to organize and consolidate this knowledge. The International Encyclopedia of Civil Society fills this gap, establishing a common set of understandings and terminology, and an analytical starting point for future research. Global in scope and authoritative in content, the Encyclopedia offers succinct summaries of core concepts and theories; definitions of terms; biographical entries on important figures and organizational profiles. In addition, it serves as a reliable and up-to-date guide to additional sources of information. In sum, the Encyclopedia provides an overview of the contours of civil society, social capital, philanthropy and nonprofits across cultures and historical periods. For researchers in nonprofit and civil society studies, political science, economics, management and social enterprise, this is the most systematic appraisal of a rapidly growing field.

Download or read book Community based Organizations written by Robert Mark Silverman and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to the ongoing debate over the role social capital plays in the creation and continuation of a healthy civic culture, Community-Based Organizations in Contemporary Urban Society studies the close relationship that social capital shares with local context, social organization, and institutional structure. The book's timely analysis illuminates the institutional barriers currently affecting the mobilization of social capital and establishes a foundation for social and political reform in the future. All components of capital formation--including human, financial, and cultural capital--are identified and considered as they relate to the community development process, as well as how social capital relates to race, class, gender, and religion in urban society. Community-Based Organizations in Contemporary Urban Society offers vital extensions to existing literature on social capital and allows the reader to consider this topic from multiple perspectives through its broad spectrum of interdisciplinary essays by sociologists, political scientists, and urban planners. The essays discuss important steps in the mobilization of social capital, as well as its role in microfinance programs, community development corporations, homeowners associations, religious institutions, and neighborhood associations. Individual chapters present an array of theoretical arguments, empirical analysis, and applied case studies that are of interest to academics, practitioners, and activists in the community development field.

Download or read book Democratizing Finance written by Clifford N. Rosenthal and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on 2018 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decades before Occupy Wall Street challenged the American financial system, activists began organizing alternatives to provide capital to “unbankable” communities and the poor. With roots in the civil rights, anti-poverty, and other progressive movements, they brought little training in finance. They formed nonprofit loan funds, credit unions, and even a new bank—organizations that by 1992 became known as “community development financial institutions,” or CDFIs. By melding their vision with that of President Clinton, CDFIs grew from church basements and kitchen tables to number more than 1,000 institutions with billions of dollars of capital. They have helped transform community development by providing credit and financial services across the United States, from inner cities to Native American reservations. Democratizing Finance traces the roots of community development finance over two centuries, a history that runs from Benjamin Franklin, through an ill-starred bank for African American veterans of the Civil War, the birth of the credit union movement, and the War on Poverty. Drawn from hundreds of interviews with CDFI leaders, presidential archives, and congressional testimony, Democratizing Finance provides an insider view of an extraordinary public policy success. Democratizing Finance is a unique resource for practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and social investors.

Download or read book Asset Building Community Development written by Gary Paul Green and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive approach focused on sustainable change Asset Building and Community Development, Fourth Edition examines the promise and limits of community development by showing students and practitioners how asset-based developments can improve the sustainability and quality of life. Authors Gary Paul Green and Anna Haines provide an engaging, thought-provoking, and comprehensive approach to asset building by focusing on the role of different forms of community capital in the development process. Updated throughout, this edition explores how communities are building on their key assets—physical, human, social, financial, environmental, political, and cultural capital— to generate positive change. With a focus on community outcomes, the authors illustrate how development controlled by community-based organizations provides a better match between assets and the needs of the community.

Download or read book Developing Affordable Housing written by Bennett L. Hecht and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-05-11 with total page 842 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for Developing Affordable Housing A Practical Guide for Nonprofit Organizations Third Edition "Ben Hecht's book explains in clear language everything needed to successfully engage in nonprofit housing development. He tells how to find the money, how to generate good design and quality construction, and how to improve management--a complete, well-researched, and well-presented 'A to Z' approach." --Henry G. Cisneros, former secretary U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development "Ben Hecht's book makes the affordable housing development process accessible for communities and practitioners everywhere. Developing Affordable Housing should be on the bookshelf of every organization that cares about people and wants to make affordable housing possible." --Rey Ramsey, former chairman, Habitat for Humanity CEO, One Economy Corporation "The development of affordable housing is as much a journey as a destination. Ben Hecht's book provides maps and bridges while not losing sight of the challenging but elusive goal of providing decent, safe, and affordable housing." --Nicolas P. Retsinas, Director, Joint Center for Housing Studies Harvard University "In our work to increase the supply of safe, decent homes for those who need homes the most, we appreciate the power of partnerships and the value of information. So does Ben Hecht. Developing Affordable Housing is more than a practical guide for nonprofits--it's a library, a trusted advisor, and a road map. Read this book and benefit from its wisdom." --Stacey D. Stewart, President and CEO, Fannie Mae Foundation

Download or read book Urban Problems and Community Development written by Ronald F. Ferguson and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, concerned governments, businesses, and civic groups have launched ambitious programs of community development designed to halt, and even reverse, decades of urban decline. But while massive amounts of effort and money are being dedicated to improving the inner-cities, two important questions have gone unanswered: Can community development actually help solve long-standing urban problems? And, based on social science analyses, what kinds of initiatives can make a difference? This book surveys what we currently know and what we need to know about community development's past, current, and potential contributions. The authors--economists, sociologists, political scientists, and a historian--define community development broadly to include all capacity building (including social, intellectual, physical, financial, and political assets) aimed at improving the quality of life in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. The book addresses the history of urban development strategies, the politics of resource allocation, business and workforce development, housing, community development corporations, informal social organizations, schooling, and public security.

Download or read book An Introduction to Community Development written by Rhonda Phillips and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-11-26 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with the foundations of community development, An Introduction to Community Development offers a comprehensive and practical approach to planning for communities. Road-tested in the authors’ own teaching, and through the training they provide for practicing planners, it enables students to begin making connections between academic study and practical know-how from both private and public sector contexts. An Introduction to Community Development shows how planners can utilize local economic interests and integrate finance and marketing considerations into their strategy. Most importantly, the book is strongly focused on outcomes, encouraging students to ask: what is best practice when it comes to planning for communities, and how do we accurately measure the results of planning practice? This newly revised and updated edition includes: increased coverage of sustainability issues, discussion of localism and its relation to community development, quality of life, community well-being and public health considerations, and content on local food systems. Each chapter provides a range of reading materials for the student, supplemented with text boxes, a chapter outline, keywords, and reference lists, and new skills based exercises at the end of each chapter to help students turn their learning into action, making this the most user-friendly text for community development now available.

Download or read book Development Organizations written by Rebecca Schaaf and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-07-03 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continuing debates over the meaning of development and awareness of the persistence of poverty have resulted in increasing concern over how to ‘do’ development. There are growing numbers of development organizations, undertaking different activities, at different scales, with different motivations, and differing levels of success. It is necessary to identify and evaluate these varied organizations, in order to recognize their successes and failures. Development Organizations is the first introductory text to focus specifically on the variety of organizations involved in development policy and practice. It explores the range and role of organizations, including community-based organizations and civil society actors, international non-governmental organizations, state and other national-based actors, global forms of governance, international financial institutions and transnational corporations. The historical and contemporary role of each of these actors is considered, with analysis of complex theoretical debates surrounding their existence and their activities. The book also explores the political and contested nature of development activities promoted by these organizations, and their effects on society, the economy and the environment. These issues are also considered in context of the Millennium Development Goals; the agenda which currently impacts on the operation and outcomes of the broad range of development organizations. This invaluable text is richly complimented throughout with case studies to help illustrate the operations of development organizations; from the impact of multinational oil companies in the Niger delta to the impact of IMF reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. This clearly written and user friendly text contains a wealth of features to assist student learning, including start of chapter learning outcomes, and end of chapter summaries, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading and relevant websites.

Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Download or read book The Community Development Reader written by James DeFilippis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Community Development Reader is the first comprehensive reader in the past thirty years that brings together practice, theory and critique concerning communities as sites of social change. With chapters written by some of the leading scholars and practitioners in the field, the book presents a diverse set of perspectives on community development. These selections inform the reader about established and emerging community development institutions and practices as well as the main debates in the field. The second edition is significantly updated and expanded to include a section on globalization as well as new chapters on the foreclosure crisis, and emerging forms of community .

Download or read book The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund written by Andre L. Wright and published by Nova Science Publishers. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As communities face a variety of economic challenges, some are looking to local banks and financial institutions for solutions that address the specific development needs of low-income and distressed communities. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) provide financial products and services, such as mortgage financing for homebuyers and not-for-profit developers, underwriting and risk capital for community facilities; technical assistance; and commercial loans and investments to small, start-up, or expanding businesses. CDFIs include regulated institutions, such as community development banks and credit unions, and non-regulated institutions, such as loan and venture capital funds. This book describes the Fund's history, current appropriations, and each of its programmes.

Download or read book Research Handbook on Community Development written by Rhonda Phillips and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-04-24 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely Research Handbook offers new ways in which to navigate the diverse terrain of community development research. Chapters unpack the foundations and history of community development research and also look to its future, exploring innovative frameworks for conceptualizing community development. Comprehensive and unequivocally progressive, this is key reading for social and public policy researchers in need of an understanding of the current trends in community development research, as well as practitioners and policymakers working on urban, rural and regional development.

Download or read book Practicing Community Development written by Donald W. Littrell and published by . This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Community development is a radical profession. It is based on the belief that people can give purposeful direction to their collective future. How this occurs is based on the community, the issues, the current capacity of people and the resource base that is present.Community development involves work in the ongoing lives of rural, urban and suburban communities. It is an international effort at the community level.Community development is gaining knowledge and empowerment through a process of collaboration and action. The heart and soul of community development is creating experiences through which people learn they can take ownership of their situation and devise and implement plans of action. The measure of success in a community development effort is the quality of people it produces.Practicing Community Development focuses on the ethical and practical aspects of community development. It is full of examples of people coming together and working through challenges. The authors use their experience as a base from which to explore how to help community members implement their visions.This book is for community members and the people in agencies, government and nonprofit organizations who work with them. It can also be used as a textbook for beginning undergraduate and graduate courses in community development or other social sciences.

Download or read book Community Economic Development in Social Work written by Steven D. Soifer and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-11-18 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Community economic development (CED) is an increasingly essential factor in the revitalization of low- to moderate-income communities. This cutting-edge text explores the intersection of CED and social work practice, which both focus on the well-being of indigent communities and the empowerment of individuals and the communities in which they live. This unique textbook emphasizes a holistic approach to community building that combines business and real-estate development with a focus on stimulating family self-reliance and community empowerment. The result is an innovative approach to rehabilitating communities in decline while preserving resident demographics. The authors delve deep into the social, political, human, and financial capital involved in effecting change and how race and regional issues can complicate approaches and outcomes. Throughout, they integrate case examples to illustrate their strategies and conclude with a consideration of the critical role social workers can play in developing CEDÕs next phase.

Download or read book Community Organizing written by Ross J. Gittell and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1998-06-10 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing new insight into an important community development challenge, this text looks at how to stimulate the formation of community-based organizations and effective citizen action in neighbourhoods.

Download or read book Constructing Community written by Jeremy Levine and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at the benefits and consequences of the rise of community-based organizations in urban development Who makes decisions that shape the housing, policies, and social programs in urban neighborhoods? Who, in other words, governs? Constructing Community offers a rich ethnographic portrait of the individuals who implement community development projects in the Fairmount Corridor, one of Boston’s poorest areas. Jeremy Levine uncovers a network of nonprofits and philanthropic foundations making governance decisions alongside public officials—a public-private structure that has implications for democratic representation and neighborhood inequality. Levine spent four years following key players in Boston’s community development field. While state senators and city councilors are often the public face of new projects, and residents seem empowered through opportunities to participate in public meetings, Levine found a shadow government of nonprofit leaders and philanthropic funders, nonelected neighborhood representatives with their own particular objectives, working behind the scenes. Tying this system together were political performances of “community”—government and nonprofit leaders, all claiming to value the community. Levine provocatively argues that there is no such thing as a singular community voice, meaning any claim of community representation is, by definition, illusory. He shows how community development is as much about constructing the idea of community as it is about the construction of physical buildings in poor neighborhoods. Constructing Community demonstrates how the nonprofit sector has become integral to urban policymaking, and the tensions and trade-offs that emerge when private nonprofits take on the work of public service provision.

Download or read book Knowledge Partnering for Community Development written by Robyn Eversole and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-17 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Effective community development means that many different stakeholders have to work together: governments, development organizations and NGOs, and most importantly, the people they serve. Knowledge Partnering for Community Development teaches community development professionals how to mediate community needs and development agendas to make community-based solutions for development challenges. Based on the newest research in community and global development, Eversole shows readers a strong research and theoretically based framework for understanding local development processes, and gives them the skills to turn this into cutting-edge practice. Each chapter features global case studies of innovative community-state partnerships, and practical application exercises and strategies for professionals looking to bring new approaches to their research. Knowledge Partnering for Community Development is essential for community workers and students of community development looking to bridge the gap between research insight and best practice between community actors.