Community Organizing Principles Community Development: Aboriginal Vs. Term Paper

Community Organizing Principles

Community Development:

Aboriginal vs. Feminist Principles:

Examining Similarities and Differences

Community development is vital for all humans. No matter what the term utilized, this action has been undertaken in all societies, for it binds us together and keeps us safe from the outside world. Furthermore, community development brings trust and resources that cannot be furthered but a single individual. For this reason, a social contract is necessary and it is for this reason as well that communities has formed and have existed for so long, in a wide variety, and so successfully. The paragraphs below will examine two communities, namely the aboriginal community at-large and the feminist community, and will compare and contrast principles of community development.

Aboriginal Principles

Achieving a successful community development practice in today's aboriginal communities, all over the world, has been quite a challenge. In Australia, for example, the trauma inflicted by the colonial and postcolonial era still reverberates with many, and has, according to one author, "removed the close cultural kinship ties that existed previously within Indigenous communities across Australia."[footnoteRef:1] The result of these events has rendered these vital and vibrant communities fractured to a great extent.Most members now live in areas where there are many other groups, and are subject to problems such as family violence and drug dependency, according to Higgins (2005), all of which are only increasing. [1: Higgins, D. (2005). Early Learnings: Indigenous Community Development Projects. Telstra Foundation Research Report. Retrieved October 23, from < http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/reports/telstra2/telstra2.html#indigenous>.]

In order to even begin to solve such issues, one must therefore look towards aboriginal principles of community development and prioritize areas in which these would be most useful. One issue to be addressed are the wound of the past. In aboriginal community development, there must be first and foremost an awareness of history, of exploitation and oppression, according to Higgins (2005). Furthermore, the indigenous perspective sees this development as "working with communities to assist communities in finding plausible solutions to the problems they have identified," according to Higgins (2005). Such problems can range from lack of employment or underemployment, lack of clean water resources, lack of cleanliness (sewage issues), and poor housing and health conditions, all of which are persistent and serious problems that can be addressed….....