Community work in Hong Kong: changing agenda in the recent phase of economic globalization

Abstract

The recent phase of economic globalization has constituted a social context of deteriorating opportunity and increasing risk for disadvantaged communities in Hong Kong. While different studies have shown the ‘revitalization’ of the significance of the community in general and community work service in particular in most developed countries to further the interests of disadvantaged groups, the survival of the community development service in Hong Kong has been threatened by the government's intention to cut it. New initiatives, however, were started by the government to tap resources from the community to provide help to individuals and families in need without utilizing the existing community development programme that emphasizes community empowerment. This paper first examines the relationship between the global impact and the community work service in the developed countries. It then analyses the changing role of the service consequential upon the actions of the Hong Kong government in mediating the global impact.