Liberation and Discourse in Community Learning and Development

Education, formal or non-formal, is either a
mechanism for change or conservation: it is
transformational or transmissive. This book
interrogates the philosophies that underpin the
notion of a dominant discourse and its relationshp
to social change. These are then applied to the
concept of community asset development
through the CADISPA Project in rural Scotland. The
book identifies the tension that exists between two
fundamentally different positions on the notion of
citizen engagement and personal and social change,
that of Paulo Freire and Michael Foucault, and
compares and contrasts the implications of each in a
real-time community development project.
Understanding the impact of this differental is
important to those professionals and community
activists who would wish to secure their
interventions in local communities on the basis of
reflective and theory driven practice.

Autorentext

Dr Geoff Fagan is a senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow UK. He is Director of the Scottish Centre for Sustainable Community Development and the manager of the CADISPA Project. His teaching and research portfolio includes empowerment processes, non-formal education, sustainability and citizen engagement in social change.

Klappentext

Education, formal or non-formal, is either a mechanism for change or conservation: it is transformational or transmissive. This book interrogates the philosophies that underpin the notion of a dominant discourse and its relationshp to social change. These are then applied to the concept of community asset development through the CADISPA Project in rural Scotland. The book identifies the tension that exists between two fundamentally different positions on the notion of citizen engagement and personal and social change, that of Paulo Freire and Michael Foucault, and compares and contrasts the implications of each in a real-time community development project. Understanding the impact of this differental is important to those professionals and community activists who would wish to secure their interventions in local communities on the basis of reflective and theory driven practice.