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Community Development Journal 2005 40(2):158-168; doi:10.1093/cdj/bsi024
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© Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal. 2005 All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

Theoretical Perspectives

Conceptualizing community development in war-affected populations: illustrations from Tigray

Alastair Ager, Professor, Alison Strang, Dr* and Behailu Abebe

Institute for International Health & Development in Edinburgh

* Address for correspondence: Institute for International Health & Development, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, EH12 8TS. Email: astrang{at}qmuc.ac.uk

The focus of humanitarian and development assistance to post-conflict societies has in recent years typically broadened from narrow socioeconomic concerns to address broader mechanisms of social and psychological recovery within war-affected populations. Interventions seeking to assist in such recovery are, however, frequently contested in terms of aims and approach. Competing discourses regarding such support for communities are identified, and their ideological roots considered. A conceptual framework for psychosocial intervention in complex emergencies is presented, which seeks to relate together diverse approaches to community support within a single schema. The framework identifies three core domains with respect to which the resources of communities, the impact of conflict and means of intervention can be conceptualized. These three domains of human capacity, social ecology, and culture and values are illustrated with respect to the post-conflict setting of communities on the Tigray-Eritrea border. The framework suggests a number of concepts of relevance for structuring community development interventions in such settings. Two specific areas are examined in detail. First, the social capital concepts of bonds, bridges and links are elaborated, and the respective role of each in post-conflict recovery considered. Second, three key processes in conceptualizing the process of community development are identified as engagement, negotiation and transformation.


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