The Dilemmas of Development Work : Ethical Challenges in Regeneration

Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction. I. Context, role and person: 2. The public sphere as dilemmatic space. 3. The nature of development work. 4. The resilience of development workers. 5. Workers’ values and commitments. 6. Negotiating dilemmatic space. 7. Handling authority relations. II. Modernisation and beyond: 8. Modernization and community governance. 9. Doing the work: negotiating the modernization agenda. 10. The future of development work. References. Index.

“Social development work takes place in the grey area between government and the voluntary and community sectors. This book, written by three well-known educators and researchers in the social policy and development field, explores the ways in which front-line professionals working with communities identify and address the dilemmas inherent in the current policy context.

Drawing upon original material, the authors examine:

• How ‘community engagement’ workers negotiate the ethical and emotional challenges they face;
• How they work through problems of community representation at interpersonal and team levels;
• How they manage the conflicting roles of local activist and paid worker;
• What role colleagues, management and others play when responding to such challenges.

The Dilemmas of Development Work reconnects to, and updates, an important tradition in social policy which explores the dilemmas of ‘street-level’ work. It draws on contemporary political theory and current debates concerning the modernization of governance and psycho-social perspectives on identity, values and agency. Combining theory and practice, it will appeal to practitioners, policy makers and undergraduates in social and public policy.” (jacket)