%0 Journal Article
%T Uncovering ¡®Community¡¯: Challenging an Elusive Concept in Development and Disaster Related Work
%A Alexandra Titz
%A Fred Kr¨¹ger
%A Terry Cannon
%J -
%D 2018
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8030071
%X Abstract In all areas of academic or practical work related to disaster risk, climate change and development more generally, community and its adjunct community-based have become the default terminology when referring to the local level or working ¡®with the people¡¯. The terms are applied extensively to highlight what is believed to be a people-centred, participatory, or grassroot-level approach. Today, despite, or because of, its inherent ambiguity, ¡®community¡¯ tends to be used almost inflationarily. This paper aims to analyse the way the concept of ¡®community¡¯ has come into fashion, and to critically reflect on the problems that come with it. We are raising significant doubts about the usefulness of ¡®community¡¯ in development- and disaster-related work. Our approach is to first consider how ¡®community¡¯ has become popular in research and with humanitarian agencies and other organisations based on what can be considered a ¡®moral licence¡¯ that supposedly guarantees that the actions being taken are genuinely people-centred and ethically justified. We then explore several theoretical approaches to ¡®community¡¯, highlight the vast scope of different (and contested) views on what ¡®community¡¯ entails, and explain how ¡®community¡¯ is framing practical attempts to mitigate vulnerability and inequity. We demonstrate how these attempts are usually futile, and sometimes harmful, due to the blurriness of ¡®community¡¯ concepts and their inherent failure to address the root causes of vulnerability. From two antagonistic positions, we finally advocate more meaningful ways to acknowledge vulnerable people¡¯s views and needs appropriately. View Full-Tex
%K community
%K development
%K vulnerability
%K disasters
%K climate change
%K participation
%K governance
%K identity
%K belonging
%K social ties
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/8/3/71