(Re)framing sustainable development: an ecological posture and Praxis

Weaving reflection, action, and knowledge creation: lived experience as a catalyst into the cycle of praxis for community development

“…In the world of "helping" professionals, it can be difficult to distinguish the buzzwords from the substance. The advent of social entrepreneurship and push for corporate responsibility meant that while some businesses have actually made meaningful social impact, a number of neo-liberal endeavors have justified putting profits over people and the planet by dressing up their business in the language of value-added, empowerment and sustainability (Ihlen and Roper, 2014;Imran et al, 2014;Peterson and Knopf, 2016). Bhattacharyya (1995) recognized that a more substantive definition was required to set apart the actual work for dignity and well-being from the work that simply adopted its language.…”

“…Reflection on the values behind a given approach becomes praxis when that reflection intentionally interacts with action to create new knowledge -including a new understanding of a group or individual's capacity and self-story. That new knowledge informs the evolution of the teleological vision and the future intentional reflection and action taken in its pursuit (Peterson and Knopf, 2016;Peterson, 2016).…”

“…Community Development (CD) scholars have called for a more robust engagement of the interplay of values, practices and knowledge creation (e.g., Crowley, 2018;Hustedde, 1998;Peterson and Knopf, 2016;Talmage et al, 2017;Westoby, 2016). As Bhattacharyya (2004) notes, CD is a teleological practice.…”

“…In this light, Welzel, Inglehart and Deutsch (2005) highlight "It is the values to which an activity is tied, not the activity as such that makes a society civic" (p. 140). Discussion of a specific approach to practicing CD should offer an outline of the way values are mobilized in pursuit of the envisioned future (Crowley, 2018;Peterson and Knopf, 2016;Peterson, 2016). Reflection on the values behind a given approach becomes praxis when that reflection intentionally interacts with action to create new knowledge -including a new understanding of a group or individual's capacity and self-story.…”

“…The lived experience of community members is a rich source for understanding their collective behavior as it reveals a community's collective self-perception, self-story and self-image (Bergdall, 2003). Storytelling has been shown to be a catalytic act for enhancing community participation in community building activities (Pstross et al, 2014), an emancipative expression of agency that signifies commitment to solidarity within a community (Talmage et al, 2017), and a methodological vehicle for understanding sense-making and action-taking in a CD environment (Peterson, 2016;Peterson and Knopf, 2016).…”