With the topics of community and how local communities can be supported to take control of their lives, services, and environment still high on the public agenda, this second edition of an invaluable guide provides a timely introduction to community development, its origins, and the different forms it takes. Updated to reflect developments in policy and practices, current trends and challenges, as well as recent debates about the changing nature of community itself, it also shows how community development can be applied in a variety of policy areas. Accessibly written, this guide will remain...

In this provocative book, Peter Latham argues that the UK Conservative Government's devolution agenda conceals their real intention: to complete the privatization of local government and other public services. Using illustrative examples from across the United Kingdom, including the so-called -Northern Powerhouses- and the Midlands, Who Stole the Town Hall? explains the far-reaching implications of this reorganization of local government--a reorganization already affecting vital public services, including education, health, housing, and policing. Proposing an overhaul of the UK...

This illuminating book offers a fresh and contemporary guide to the field of sociology. By demonstrating the versatility of the sociological imagination, the authors reveal the ways in which thinking sociologically can help us understand the personal, social and structural changes going on in the world around us.