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In-active citizenship and the depoliticisation of community development in Ireland

Gaynor, Niamh orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-5645-7032 (2009) In-active citizenship and the depoliticisation of community development in Ireland. Community Development Journal, 46 (1). pp. 27-41. ISSN 1468-2656

Abstract
At a time of rising stress for communities, families and individuals coupled with a growing disillusionment with government, the concept of ‘active citizenship’ has arrived as a salve to many of the social ills of our time. Emphasising citizen’s own responsibilities, and espousing values of solidarity, community and neighbourliness, active citizenship embodies all that is good, rendering it somewhat immune from criticism. While agreeing that community values of solidarity and neighbourliness are indeed critical, this paper takes issue with what it argues is a significant revisioning of the three core concepts embodied within active citizenship - citizenship, social capital and community development - and argues that active citizenship, as it is currently promoted by state and select civil society organisations alike, substitutes self-help for redistribution and self-reliance for state accountability, in the process depoliticising the principles and practice of community development and denying community actors a voice in their own development.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Social Sciences > Political science
DCU Faculties and Centres:Research Initiatives and Centres > Centre for International Studies (CIS)
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:Oxford University Press (OUP)
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsp038
Copyright Information:© 2019 Oxford University Press (OUP)
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences for a wider research project from which this article is drawn.
ID Code:14922
Deposited On:01 Oct 2009 13:45 by Niamh Gaynor . Last Modified 06 Dec 2019 12:49
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