This briefing presents evidence on what enhances community empowerment processes, what constrains them and what might contribute to the design of future community empowerment initiatives. It is based on a multi-year ethnographic study with three community groups that were part of Big Local, a UK-based community empowerment programme, by anthropologist and sociologist Dr Imogen Bayfield.
The UK faces growing social and political division, declining trust in democracy and increasingly complex global challenges. In response, policymakers are placing greater emphasis on community-led decision-making, but many initiatives have been criticised for failing to give residents genuine power. Community empowerment programmes aim to address this by giving local people long-term resources and control to shape decisions and improve their communities.
Imogen Bayfield is a Research Fellow in the Sociology Department at the University of Surrey.
Engaged Publics by Imogen Bayfield is available on Bristol University Press for £85.00 here.
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