DOCUMENT RESUME ED 066 638 AC 012 785 TITLE Popular Participation in Development: Emerging Trends in Community Development. INSTITUTION United Nations, New York, N.Y. Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs. PUB DATE 71 NOTE 277p. AVAILABLE FROMUnited Nations Sales Office, New York, N.Y. (Sales No. E.71.IV.2, ST /SOA /106; $4.00 U.S.) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$9.87 DESCRIPTORS Agriculture; Citizen Participation; *Community Development; *Developed Nations; *Developing Nations; National Programs; Policy Formation; Research Reviews (Publications); *Rural Development; Social Change; *Trend Analysis; Urban Areas IDENTIFIERS Africa; Asia; Europe; Middle East; North America; South America; *United Nations ABSTRACT A first attempt is made to place in perspective the accumulated experience of nearly 20 years of community development activity in both developed and developing countries. The purpose of this study is to stimulate further inquiry into community development practice, process, and theory in order for it to become a more effective instrument in the development process. Chapters are devoted to the following topics: (1) policy issues in community development, (2) community development in North America,(3) community development trends in South America,(4) aspects of community development in the Caribbean, (5) community development in Western Europe, (6) institutions participating in rural community development in Poland and the agricultural circle role,(7) community. development in Romania, (8) issues and trends related to rural and community development in selected Middle Eastern countries,(9) rural "animation° and popular participation in French-speaking black Africa, and (10) community development experiences in Asia. (JS) U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. ED1rTION & WELFARE OrF- OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN IMMO DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE. PERSON OR OROANI/ATION ORIG Popular Participation INATING It POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAE OFFICE. OF LOU CATION POSITION OR POLICY in Development: Emerging Trends in Community Development UNITED NATIONS Department of Economic and Social Affairs POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT: EMERGING TRENDS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UNITED NATIONS New York, 1971 NOTE Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. ST/S0A/106 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No.: E. 71.1V. 2 Price: $U.S. 4.00 (or equivalent in other currencies) CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 Policy issues in community development 6 Community deve.opment in North America 45 [II. Community development trends in South America 136 IV. Some aspects of community development in the Caribbean 155 V. Community development in western Europe 1o2 VI. Institutions participating in rural community development in Poland and the role of the agricultural circle . 180 VII. Community development in Romania l9 VIII. Issues and trends related to rural and community development in selected countries of the Middle East . 204 IX. Rural "animation" and popular participation in French- speaking black Africa 233 X. Experiences of community development in Asia 255 INTRODUCTION After approximately twenty years as a United Nations-supported programme, community development (CD) has gained nearly universal recognition as a force for inducing social and economic change in developing nations. The extent of its acceptance cannot be gauged solely by the number of countries that have received international technical assistance to undertake community development programmes- which is substantial - but also by nations that have adopted development programmes bearing the stamp of its methods and philosophy, whether labelled as community development or not. Though popularly associated with the efforts of developing nations to modernize their society, the essential elements of community development, as a reading of the chapters on North America, western Europe, Poland and Romania suggests, are very much in evidence in local improvement efforts in many parts of the developed world. Important operational concepts of community development, including popular participation, self-help and the building of indigenous co-operative institutions, were prominent features of the populist reform movements that took hold in the rural areas in North America and in community organization practices that found widespread application in the slum areas of industrial cities in the United States, Canada and many western European countries. The considerable impact that these countries have had on the practice and theory of community development in the developing nations has been further reinforced by bilateral technical assistance programmes, notably in the 1q50s. Cver the years, community development has been a rural-bound movement. In Asia, the Middle East and Africa, national CD programmes were undertaken as part of a strategy for rural development. Chief among the concerns of the latter has been the social and economic uplift of the village, which it seeks to realize by building a rural infrastructure, improving the supply of- and stimulating the demand for - social services, increasing agricultural productivity and developing human resources. Within this rural-agricultural matrix, community development programmes and techniques - allowing for regional, national and subnational variants - have evolved to their present stage. That village uplift could not be independently realized was all too apparent, given the lack of resources and the resistance of traditional-minded local leadership to the requirements of modernization. Aid from the central government became a necessary condition for rural development. In countries where a tributary relationship existed between the village and central authorities, the implementation of CD programmes placed strains on this traditional relationship which effectively hampered rural development. Community development, with its emphasis on change, popular participation and leadership training, involved a dynamic interaction between the central government and the village.Though not everywhere successful in achieving this kind of relationship, community development has become an instrument for forging a more constructive role for government in development, helping to establish on the one hand, a better understanding between ruler and ruledwithin the village, and between central government and village authorities on the other. The essential elements of this mutual relationship between government and people was succinctly stated by the United Nations Economic and Social Council nearly fifteen ymkrs ago: "The term community development has come into international use to connote the processes by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those of governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate these .ommunities into the life of the nation, and to enable them to contribute fully to national progress. "This complex of processes is then made up of two essential elements: the participation by the people themselves in efforts to improve their level of living with as much reliance as possible on their own initiative; and the provision of technical and other services in ways which encourage initiative, self-help and mutual help and make these more effective. It is expressed in programmes designed to achieve a wide variety of specific improvements". This much-cited working definition of community development remains valid today. To say this, however, is neither to imply that community development has not undergone change or to suggest that further change is not needed. The resilience of CD as an instrument for rural uplift lay in its ability to accommodate itself to changing trends in development. As a result, there have been adjustments in its goals and improvements in its methods that reflect twenty years of accumulated field experience and a better understanding of the nature of rural society. The ability of community development to adapt itself to changing conditions in village and communitylife is largely due to its pragmatic approach to problem-solving. Under traditional OD practice, the village was the focal point of development, conceived of as a harmonious unit distinguished by the absence of basic class, caste or ethnic differences. Throughout the 1950s, the strategy of community development for the most part was to work through existing institutions and to build on self-help and co-operative traditions that were common in the rural areas of many developing countries. In practical terms, this meant allocating limited external resources through existing channels, working for the most part through established individual farmers and entrepreneurs and mobilizing local resources fcr village projects who had the necessary skills to employ such aid effectively. A considerable proportion of indigenous resources was made of voluntary labour for local improvement projects, including the construction of roads, parks, schools and clinics. In pursuing this strategy, the external change agent, whether in the person of a multipurpose village worker