Community Development Journal

Special Section 61.4: Community Development Shaping the Future In 2026, the Community Development Journal marks its 60th anniversary, with a series ofspecial sections across the 61st issue of the journal. Each special section will comprise a shorteditorial bringing together a selection of papers around a common theme that will serve as apoint of reflection. Issue 61.1 considered community development in context, arguing that ‘by acknowledgingthe contexts in which community development…

Special Section 61.3: Power, Technology, and Post-Truth Politics In 2026, the Community Development Journal marks its 60th anniversary, with a series ofspecial sections across the 61st issue of the journal. Each special section will comprise a shorteditorial bringing together a selection of papers around a common theme that will serve as apoint of reflection.Issue 61.1 considered community development in context arguing that ‘by acknowledging thecontexts in which community development was…

On April 10th and 11th, 2025, Deakin University and the Community Development Journal supported an event bringing together community development practitioners to discuss emerging and urgent issues in CD practice. Event report by Sue Kenny, photos by Michael Chew. The event, titled ‘Community Development in a Turbulent World: Four Challenges' was one of a series of events marking the 60th anniversary of the Community Development Journal (CDJ). In early 2024…

Purnaa Muthu dives into Sayantan Datta's work on community, identity and belonging for transgender people in Indian science institutions. Many aspire to join science institutions in India for higher education: on the one hand, they promise tangible upward mobility, and purported economic stability and professional recognition; on the other, they embody a deeper cultural aspirationality. Belonging in these spaces signifies (and signals to others) a certain respectability.  The question of…

The Community Development Journal is seeking to appoint up to five new Editorial Board members to join us from March 2025.

By Nsizwazonke E Yende Our paper explored the politics and ambiguities associated with ward committees in enhancing community development through democratic participation. We adopted and used Gidden’s theory of structuration as a theoretical lens to interpret the findings from the literature. The theory looks at the context and the relationship between individuals and society. We explored ward committees because they are local structures (operating at the grassroots level) made up…