The seven deadly sins of community development

As a result of our experience and, at times, frustration with the field, we offer seven deadly sins of community development. We believe that community development work remains undervalued and underinvested across the world in part because of its own sins, and we maintain that unless we address them, it will remain so. We share our perspectives on the darker side of community development by exploring and critiquing the following issues: anti-expertism, localism, and self-help, an overemphasis upon social capital, an over-righteous non-governmental (NGO) sector, and an overemphasis upon collectivism, discipline capture, and self-effacement. Our aim is to challenge readers to reject lazy groupthink and encourage more critical thinking and reflection. We surmise that our field risks further marginalization unless we address these.

Automated summary

This article summarizes the seven deadly sins of community development, arguing that the undervaluation and lack of investment in the field worldwide are partially due to its own flaws. These flaws include anti-expertism, localism and self-help, an overemphasis on social capital, an over-righteous non-governmental sector, an overemphasis on collectivism, discipline capture, and self-effacement. The article aims to challenge readers to reject groupthink and promote critical thinking and reflection. It warns that unless these issues are addressed, the field risks further marginalization.