The Role of Assets in Community-Based Development

C development has its roots in several academic disciplines, including sociology, economics, political science, planning, social work, and even architecture. The interdisciplinary approach of community development has many advantages, but it also presents analytical problems. It lacks a common language, a conceptual framework, or a set of agreed-upon issues and problems. Community development is frequently driven more by practice than by theory. There also is considerable debate among practitioners whether community development is primarily a process or an outcome. Community development has always had a diverse set of objectives: solving local problems (e.g., unemployment and poverty), addressing inequalities of wealth and power, promoting democracy, and building a sense of community (Rubin & Rubin, 1992). As a result, it has been defined in a variety of ways, including local economic development, political empowerment, service provision, housing programs, comprehensive planning, and job training. In this book, we do not overcome this ambiguity, but we define some of the major concepts and issues for which there is considerable agreement in the community development field today. We believe the asset approach offers the best potential for providing a common conceptual basis for community development theory and for practitioners. We begin with one of the most slippery terms—community.