Community Work, Community Development: Reflections 2009

The autumn 2008 publication Towards Standards for Quality Community Work, (Towards Standards Ad Hoc Group, 2008) aims to assemble in one place definitions and statements of the values and principles underpinning Irish community work. In this short article, using the standards and their development as a starting point, we focus on some of the features of the Irish community work tradition developed over the past three decades and of which the standards are themselves a reflection. Through the discussion we interweave suggestions on future issues and challenges

The Making and Shaping of the Young Gael: Irish-Medium Youth Work for Developing Indigenous Identities

Identity exploration and formation is a core rumination for young people. This is heightened in youth where flux and transition are characteristic of this liminal state and intensified further in contexts where identity is disputed and opposed, such as in Northern Ireland. In this post‐colonial setting, the indigenous Irish language and community recently gained some statutory protections, but the status and place of the Irish‐speaking population continue to be strongly opposed. Drawing on focus group data with 40 young people involved in the emerging field of Irish‐medium youth work, this article explores how informal education offers an approach and setting for the development of identities in contested societies. Principles of emancipation, autonomy, and identity formation underpin the field of youth work and informal education. This dialogical approach to learning and welfare focuses on the personal and social development of young people and troubles those systems that marginalise and diminish their place in society. This article identifies how this youth work approach builds on language development to bring to life a new social world and space for Irish‐speaking young people. It identifies political activism and kinship development as key components in strengthening individual and collective identity. This article proposes a shift in emphasis from the language‐based formal education sector to exploit the under‐recognised role of informal education in the development of youth identity, cultural belonging, and language revitalisation

Rocking the boat while staying in it: connecting ends and means in radical community work

At a time when the term ‘radical’ is predominantly associated with intolerance and violence, this article explicitly interrogates its meaning and application in community development praxis. Based on a qualitative inquiry, influenced by community development principles, community workers with rich experience at both micro- and macro-levels in Ireland were interviewed individually, then collectively to elicit their perspectives on the possibilities and challenges for radical community work in Ireland. While specifically located, its conclusions have relevance for community work and community development globally. Findings show that being a professional and a radical are not incompatible. Some radical community workers recognize their dual role in service of the state and their obligation to work with others to change it. Acknowledging that marginalized communities do not have the access to power available to more privileged communities necessitates strategies to maximize influence. At the same time, there is an intimate connection between the methods used to transform society and the nature of the subsequent society. As workers accountable to communities, funders and the profession itself, the strategies engaged with and tactics adopted warrant careful consideration. This article seeks to challenge the dichotomy of either conflict or consensus approaches as overly simplistic. Its suggests that some community workers can hold a radical agenda and conflictual ideology while pro-actively engaging with decision-makers who, although part of systems, which perpetuate inequality, can also be agents of change