Community Development Journal

Gender-transformative approaches work with men and women to achieve equal rights, opportunities, responsibilities, and access to resources. However, systemic, social, and cultural barriers are still preventing women from accessing the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

We were pleased to be able to use the World Community Development Conference (WCDC) 2026 as an opportunity to bring together the Community Development Journal with colleagues from the Community Organizing Journal for a workshop on sharing our knowledge and learning from practitioners, academics and those in between.

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…