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Community Development Journal

@cdjplus.bsky.social

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Account of the Community Development Journal. For more news and free publications, please visit our OUP Homepage: https://cdj.org.uk

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Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 3h

[OPEN-ACCESS] Michael Chambwe & Andrea Saayman write in our April issue on tourism value chains and ownership in rural communities, and presents an action framework for local participation in value chain businesses for poverty reduction and community empowerment #CDJ #Poverty #Empowerment

A framework for tourism value chain ownership in rural communities

Abstract. Tourism is prevalent in rural areas of South Africa, where natural settings provide attractive opportunities. Despite tourism’s potential to impr

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 7h

Editor's Choice in our April issue, Sutiyo Sutiyo writes in our latest issue on the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, an indigenous group in Indonesia, and the innovation possible in decentralising conflict resolution processes to a local level for positive-sum games in land development #CDJ #EditorsChoice

The struggle for land by indigenous groups: from conflict to cooperation in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Indonesia

Abstract. This study discusses the perspective of a positive-sum game in land conflicts involving indigenous groups. It is based on a case study using qual

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 23h

Lee Martinez et al write in our April issue on the World's Biggest Comic, an art installation in a small Australian community focused on suicide prevention, and a mixed methods evaluation of the community development processes behind its creation #CDJ #SuicidePrevention

Wearing their heart on a wall: the World’s Biggest Comic

Abstract. An arts-based project, using a community development approach engaging people in a community of place to address suicide prevention, is potential

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 1d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Sean Lauer, Karen Lok Yi Wong & Miu Chung Yan write in Vol. 60, Issue 2 of the CDJ on situational dynamics and relationship-forming in community development organisations through a scoping review of the literature #CDJ #CommunityDevelopment

Social infrastructure, community organizations, and friendship formation: a scoping review

Abstract. Community organizations are a unique part of the local social infrastructure that provides opportunities for social connections and community bui

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 1d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Richard G Jones examines reciprocity in international aid and development in Timor-Leste in our April issue, expanding on Marshall Sahlins’ typology of reciprocal relationships, and how this produces relationships in aid programmes #CDJ #TimorLeste

The gift and the giving: reciprocity in international aid and development in Timor-Leste

Abstract. This paper examines the transactional dynamics of participation in foreign aid and development programs by exploring links between Marcel Mauss’

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 1d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Our Co-Editors Ruth Pearce & Kirsty Lohman write in the Editorial for our April issue, on challenges to global community development practice in the Second Trump Era, on bottom-up organising and information-sharing, and the excellent content available in this issue #CDJ #Editorial

Community development in the second Trump era

Ruth has a strong memory of a story once told by her German language teacher when she was a student at secondary school. Her teacher had attended universit

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 2d

Mick Carpenter reviews "When nothing works: from cost of living to foundational liveability", edited by Edited by L. Calafati, J. Froud, C. Haslam, S. Johal and K. Williams, in Vol. 60, Iss. 1 buff.ly/bzDf48V #CDJ #BookReviews

When nothing works: from cost of living to foundational liveability

This radical and innovative text challenges the current neoliberal economic growth/productivity orthodoxy, as the principal reason for general policy pessi

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 2d

Jonathan Silver reviews "Against the commons: a radical history of urban planning", edited by Álvaro Sevilla-Buitrago, in our January issue buff.ly/8OxtDkp #CDJ #BookReviews

Against the commons: a radical history of urban planning

What might you hear if you speak to a resident about urban planning in a neighbourhood somewhere in North America or Western Europe that has experienced in

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 2d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Tony Blomqvist Mickelsson writes in our January issue on the role that sports clubs can have as sites of community development, illustrated with examples from the Swedish sports movement buff.ly/8EPVrzu #CDJ #Sport

Sports clubs’ role in community capacity development—illustrations from the Swedish sports movement

Abstract. Strong political neoliberal currents in Sweden are directing attention toward communities’ responsibility to address local issues, particularly i

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 3d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Jason Wood writes in Vol. 60, Iss. 1, examining the distinctive elements of power and ownership in community organising in England and Wales, and how leadership, relationships, money, democratic behaviours, and actions are distinct enablers in the system buff.ly/qJJbDbe #CDJ

The power to act: dissecting distinctive elements of power and ownership in community organizing in England and Wales

Abstract. This paper considers the continuing evolution in England and Wales of the Alinsky tradition of broad-based community organizing, a process that s

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 3d

Wyvine Bapolisi and co-authors explore the impact of the combined approaches of women's empowerment through village savings and loan cooperatives and men's participation in a reflection group pursuing a gender equity curriculum, and lead to mutually reinforced outcomes buff.ly/7LvOhPq #CDJ

Exploring the impact of combining women’s empowerment through village savings and loans associations with men’s sensitization on gender equity on socio-economic, maternal, and children’s health outcomes

AbstractBackground. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is among the poorest countries in the world with a low gender development index. To help household

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 5d

Aideen O’Shaughnessy and co-authors write in our January issue on the involvement of grassroots activist groups in the production of knowledge for policy reform, investigating how abortion rights activists can challenge or inform abortion policy in Ireland buff.ly/jMmUvUS #CDJ #Ireland

Unruly bodies (of knowledge): influencing Irish abortion policy through evidence-based abortion activism

Abstract. The involvement of grassroots activist groups in the production of knowledge used to challenge or inform abortion policy remains underexplored. D

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 6d

Theresa Healy, Christine Callihoo and Annie L Booth write in our Jan '25 issue on community-based food security initiatives and structures in rural, remote and Northern Canadian communities, and coordinated, collaborative approaches buff.ly/wsoh3HJ #CDJ #FoodSecurity

Who’s at the table: an exploration of community-based food security initiatives and structures in a north-central Canadian context

Abstract. This article examines food security initiatives and actors specific to a rural, remote and northern Canadian community, a context found throughou

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 6d

Editor's choice in Vol. 60, Iss. 1, Beatriz E Cid-Aguayo and co-authors write on biocultural land use in Chile, people-nature relationships in urban spaces, and partial reconstructions around common goods from natural spaces buff.ly/DPDjHiN #CDJ #InformalSettlements

‘I know how to live from what the hill gives’: biocultural uses, tensions and partial reconstructions around the common goods of the Cerro Caracol urban park

Abstract. In the south-central Chilean city of Concepción, an irregular urban settlement named ‘Agüita de la Perdiz’ (Partridge Creek) built on the slopes

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 6d

M Rezaul Islam, Ifzal Ahmad and Kanamik K Khan investigate community-led initiatives for climate change adaptation in two disaster-affected char land communities in Bangladesh buff.ly/bujM257 #CDJ #Bangladesh

Adapting to climate change in char land: investigating community-led initiatives in Bangladesh

Abstract. The primary objective of this study was to comprehensively examine the types of climate change, including its magnitudes, and impacts, and to ass

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 7d

Qian Meng et al write in our January issue on sustainable community development strategies in Puhan, China, and how the Puhan cooperative model has succeeded in rural revitalisation #CDJ #China buff.ly/knNWifd #CDJ #Cooperatives

In search of strategies for rural revitalization in China: Puhan’s approach to sustainable community development

Abstract. Despite the central government’s rural reconstruction programme targeting rural villages, rural communities in contemporary China continue to fac

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 7d

Our latest blog post is now live! Find all of the details of our recent event "Community Development in a Turbulent World: Four Challenges", celebrating the 60th anniversary of the CDJ, and held in Melbourne, Australia, on our homepage buff.ly/YiA3uk4 #CDJ #CDJat60

Community Development in a Turbulent World: Four Challenges

On April 10th and 11th, 2025, Deakin University and the Community...

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 7d

Niamh McCrea discusses "Identity and Capitalism" (2015) with Marie Moran in our January issue, and her subsequent research, which seeks to productively intervene in what Moran terms the ‘radical confusion’ within contemporary debates on identity politics across academia, activism and popular culture

Untangling ‘identity’ and ‘identity politics’: an interview with Marie Moran

In this article, Community Development Journal book reviews editor, Niamh McCrea, talks to Marie Moran about themes from her book Identity and Capitalism (

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 8d

Johnson Chun-Sing Cheung writes in our January issue, on refocusing social work education to meet the pressures of contemporary social work, and how antagonistic relationships between stakeholders in the community and the establishment have heralded new social work approaches in Hong Kong #CDJ

Refocusing social work education on community work in Hong Kong: an urgent call

Abstract. A dominant discourse in social work literature and textbooks is that community workers should take a proactive stance to pressure government offi

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 8d

Charlie McConnell writes in Vol. 60, Issue 1 of the CDJ, examining the history and activities of the International Association for Community Development (IACD), and how the association supports international participatory community development practice buff.ly/FzuolR3 #CDJ #IACD

Celebrating international community development networking

Abstract. The International Association for Community Development (IACD) is the global multi-disciplinary network for those who work in this field. The ass

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 8d

What's up with the dude wall? Órla O'Donovan writes on the prevalence of portraiture of former male university presidents and notaries in university buildings, and the place these structures have in contemporary public universities struggling to break historic links to elitism and extractivism #CDJ

University ‘dude walls’ must fall

Recently I attended one of the weekly public concerts hosted by University College Cork (UCC) as part of its community engagement activities. Although the

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 9d

How do so many people working for free make such expensive and inaccessible research? Our latest TikTok in our academic publishing series looks at this question buff.ly/qNzlEF9 #CDJ #AcademicPublishing #TikTok

TikTok - Make Your Day

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 9d

[OPEN-ACCESS] Our co-Editors Ruth Pearce and Kirsty Lohman write in the Editorial for our January issue, on the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Journal, and on the changes in society seen in the lifetime of the journal buff.ly/iQk6qwL #CDJ #Editorial

Towards 60 years of CDJ

In 2026, we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Community Development Journal (CDJ). The world has both changed substantially and retained familiar

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 13d

Annisa Rizqa Alamri et al review "Asset-based Community Development (ABCD): in Conversation with John McKnight about the Heritage of ABCD and its Place in the World Today (3rd edition)" in our latest issue buff.ly/VXEAUi9 #CDJ #BookReview

Asset-based Community Development (ABCD): in Conversation with John McKnight about the Heritage of ABCD and its Place in the World Today (3rd edition)

Community Development Journal @cdjplus.bsky.social · 14d

Gary Craig reviews "Community development, social action and social planning: a practical guide", edited by Alan Twelvetrees and Russell Todd, in our July issue buff.ly/uV3F4OU #CDJ #BookReviews

Community development, social action and social planning: a practical guide