This book speaks to a lacuna in current social work practice theory: community change. Much work in this area of macro practice, particularly around “grassroots” community organizing, has a somewhat dated feel to it, is highly ideological in orientation, or—in the case of many “generalist” treatments of the topic—suffers from superficiality, particularly in the area of theory and practical application. Set against the context of an often narrowly constructed “clinical” emphasis on practice education, coupled with social work’s own current rendering of “scientific management,” community practice often takes second or third billing in many professional curricula despite its deep roots in the overall field of social welfare.

Drawing on extensive case study data from three significant community-building initiatives, program data from numerous other community capacity-building efforts, key informant interviews, and an excellent literature review, Chaskin and his colleagues draw implications for crafting community change strategies as well as for creating and sustaining the organizational infrastructure necessary to support them. Social work scholars and students of community practice seeking new conceptual frameworks and insights from research to inform novel community interventions will find much of value in Building Community Capacity.

This volume takes a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to a subject of wide current concern: the role of neighborhood and community structures in the delivery of human services or, as the authors put it, “a place where programs and problems can be fitted together.”

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