3. TEORIA GENERAL DE LAS CLÁUSULAS ABUSIVAS.
3.4 Naturaleza de las cláusulas abusivas.
to identify oppressive structures and transform these" (Munford & Walsh-Tapiata, 200 1 , p.5). The definition by Canadian-based community developers, The Saskatoon District Health Community Development Team (Saskatoon District Health Community Development Team,
1 999) similarly views individuals and communities as agents of change:
Community development is an incremental process through which individuals, families and communities gain the power, insight and resources to make decisions and take action regarding their well-being (p.20).
Within the thesis, community development refers to development by communities for communities in which the processes of the journey are just as critical in constituting empowerment as end results in control over resources or structural power. The "development of the people who comprise the community" (Rocha, 1 997, p.3 7) is an important forerunner to social action. This approach draws on Torre's model of community empowerment (agency) (Rissel, 1 994) comprising: ( 1 ) the development of individual agency capacities such as self esteem or a positive sense of cultural identity for examples, (2) the development of individual and community capacities through group mechanisms or mediating structures whereby members actively participate, share knowledge and develop structural analysis of the issues they face and (3) collective action aimed at impacting on existing social structures. Community developers assist, resource and facilitate processes whereby communities identify desired changes and take appropriate actions.
C ritical post-modern discourses: strategies, practice eth ics and
agency
Critical post-modern approaches to community development are based on the "community as action" approach to organising. They have arisen partly through the need to resolve various theoretical tensions that surround community development approaches to agency within the contemporary globalised context (outlined in chapters three and four) that have brought the relationship between inequities in wealth and (gender, ethnic and ability) cultures more sharply into focus. One contemporary theoretical tension exists around the agency-structure axiom. Posner (Posner, 1 990) summarises this debate as existing between populists (who focus on the agency of activism) and Marxists (who focus more on the structural aspects of activism). The
Chapter 5 Theorising analysis and practice: critical post
former is more closely identified with post-modem theories of change while the latter is clearly aligned with critical theory. Posner (Posner, 1 990) asserts that neither the new populist focus on theory that embeds popular resistance in communal loyalties and affections nor Marxist reliance on changing structural conditions to alter popular consciousness provide adequate theoretical frameworks for activism. The critical post-modem approach to community development outlined below integrates these two seemingly divergent approaches to community development, holding both agency and structure in dialectical relationship with each other. It takes account of the myriad identities, subject positions and power relations that constitute the experience of individuals and communities in development work. Power is conceptualised as being operative at the level of the individual (power within), group (power with) and institutional (power over).
Critical post-modem approaches to community development (Munford & Walsh-Tapiata, 200 1 ; Rosenau, 1 994) are foremostly informed by neo-marxist and post-modem theories of social transformation. Critical theory emerged from Marxist thought and emphasises the dominance of particular social structures in societies and the unequal power relations between groups. A critical theory perspective views the social world as being characterised by differences arising out of conflict between communities who have different amounts of power (Munford & Walsh Tapiata, 200 I ). This approach to social change emphasises that people must be able to understand their experiences as being constituted by power relationships that are located within broader social structures in order to act collectively for social transformation. The work of earlier critical theorists and activists such as Paulo Freire (Freire, 1 968; Shor & Freire, 1 987) and Antonio Gramsci (Sardar & Van Loon, 1 999) emphasised the meta-narrative of capitalism and class in constituting power relations. More contemporary approaches to critical theory tend to be grounded in neo-marxist approaches to social transformation. According to Madan Sarup (Sarup, 1 996) these approaches reject the "totalising, universal truth-claims" (p.56) of Marxism. The sole oppositional structure of capital and class are no longer relevant as power relations are diffused through other social structures and categories such as race, gender, ability, and sexuality.
This connects with post-modernism's emphasis on difference, diversity and multiple subject positions from which we all experience the world. Importantly this "weak" form of post modernism (Pease & Fook, 1 999) acknowledges that some subject positions have more power than others (Munford & Walsh-Tapiata, 200 1 ). Its analysis of power draws substantially on the work of Michel Foucault outlined earlier in the chapter, viewing power as being operative in all
Chapter 5 Theorising analysis and practice: critical post-
social relationships. Community development methods that are informed by critical post modem development theory are concerned with struggles against racism, sexism, colonialism, heterosexism, ablism, ageism and so forth. Such methods work with communities who are marginalised from economic, social, cultural and political life in ways that take cognisance of agency and structure.
Critical post-modem methods of community development recognise that communities at the margins are affected by both subjective (internal agency terrain) and objective (external agency terrain) powerlessness. These methods address both forms of powerlessness through a process "based upon the transformation of the community from an object that is acted upon by outside forces, to a subject capable of acting upon and transforming its world" (Rocha, 1 9?7, p.3 8). While Freire' s (Freire, 1 968; Shor & Freire, 1 987) work on the development of "critical consciousness" still constitutes an important foundation of these methods, other significant dimensions have been added. These include recognition of the role and authority of the 'teacher' or community developer (Weiler, 1 99 1 ) and the significance of the subject positions or ' locations' (Munford & Walsh-Tapiata, 200 1 ; Weiler, 1 99 1 ) from which participants speak within dialogical methods.
Two community development theorists and activists, Robyn Munford and Wheturangi Walsh Tapiata draw on critical post-modem theory to outline several key principles of community development (Munford & Walsh-Tapiata, 200 1 ). While their publication frames these as "strategies for change in AotearoalNew Zealand", the majority are generally applicable to community development processes. They name these as "The Treaty of Waitangi, locating ourselves, power, social change, vision, working collectively, self determination and action reflection". They form some of the basic tenets of the community development methodology utilised within the investigation and are summarised as follows.
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty itself does not draw on critical post-modem theory (although its
application within community developement might) and as discussed in chapter four is specific to the New Zealand context and Maori-Tauiwi relations. However, its principles of partnership, power sharing and self-determination are key to community development as a method of agency within any context. These principles are usefully applied in development methods with other communities at the margins such as women or ethnic minorities for example.
Chapter 5 Theorising analysis and practice: critical post modernism and community development
Locating ourselves Locating ourselves refers to understanding one's own background and position in society. This refers to coming to understand our own historical, cultural, social and economic position, the connection between our experiences, the experiences of others and wider social structures.
Power This principle of community development involves understanding the nature of power
relations and how these can change. This necessarily entails the community worker working alongside individuals to understand from their perspective how power relations impact on their daily l ives. Here, the role of the community development worker is to assist individuals and communities to identify and challenge power relations.
Social Change A key element of community development practice is to ensure that positive
changes are maintained and can be extended to have other positive changes for other groups and communities. This requires the development of systems and working infrastructures.
Working collectively Working col lectively refers to harnessing individual and group power to
benefit the collective. This is at the core of community development practice and involves an overriding commitment on the part of individuals to come back to the group to make connections between issues and individual reflections. There must be a commitment to change for everyone.
Self-determination Munford and Walsh-Tapiata emphasise the importance of dignity and diversity as being key to self-determination. The community developer's role in working with communities towards self determination is to work with communities to identify goals and assist them explore and challenge the factors that prevent the fulfilment of these goals.
Action Reflection Effective community development practice requires the ability to reflect on actions undertaken, using the reflective process as a catalyst or spring-board in shaping subsequent actions.
Methods of development that are guided by an ethical framework are more likely to be successful in assisting communities at the margins to increase their agentic capacity than those that are not. This is largely because ethical frameworks (or effective ones) are often closely tied to the prevention of the abuse of power and/or to enable its transformative use. The thesis proposes several values or principles upon which methods of community agency or development should be premised. These build on values already developed by community
Chapter 5 Theorising analysis and practice: critical post
development practitioners (Saskatoon District Health Community Development Team, 1 999) and include those of respect, equity, participation, power sharing, meaningful process, hope and integrity. Respect entails a regard for the rights of others and includes the development of relationships that value the gifts and capacities of each person. Equity involves the quality of fairness and is closely tied to power sharing relations to reduce structural inequalities between people. Meaningful process involves participation by people within community development in ways that are meaningful to them. Hope refers to a sense of meaning in one's life and the belief that change is possible. Finally, integrity is referred to by the Saskatoon District Health Community Development Team as the ethical stance to one's practice. The development of trusting relationships and accountability to individuals, communities and agencies is emphasised.
The thesis extends and builds on the concepts of integrity and power sharing. An important aspect of becoming conscious is a continued commitment to becoming fully aware of our motivations for acting in particular ways. Motivations always underlie our actions. Actions that are consciously motivated by the ethical principles previously touched on constitute a 'conscious intent' grounded in the ethics of community development practice. When brought to bear on community development practice on the part of community developers, fully wnscious intent on sound ethical principles can play a powerful part in constituting relationships of agency.