Urban Community Development: an Examination of the Perkins Model

Abstract

Abstract Using a paradigmatic framework, this paper examines ideas of John M. Perkins, a visionary of central city neighborhood renewal in community development tradition and a co-founder of Christian Community Development Association. Perkins' model of redevelopment is qualitatively different than those offered to date because of its emphasis on parish church, long-term relationships, relocation of leaders to community, reconciliation of people across race and class and a redistribution predicated on a prior relocation and reconciliation. Keywords: Community development, John Perkins, urban poverty, church In chapter one of Principles of Economics we find Alfred Marshall's judgment that the two great forming agencies of world's history have been religious and (1920: 1). Max Stackhouse, a Princeton University ethicist, also accords economics and religion prominent roles in shaping society. In paraphrasing Pope John Paul II, in Centesimus Annus, Stackhouse writes that: The two key forces likely to have most direct bearing on future are corporations and religion. Corporations are instrument of economic productivity for foreseeable future, and religion is bearer of those decisive values by which we guide our production, distribution, and consumption of whatever wealth is generated. (1996: 40) The United States began its modem response to poverty during Great Depression. Starting with Title IV of path breaking Social Security Act (1935), which created Aid to Dependent Children (changed to Aid to Families with Dependent Children in 1962), we have seen evolution of a welfare system. [1] Although welfare programs contribute to alleviation of poverty, we must be clear that they were not necessarily designed to end [2] The Civil Rights Movement and attendant legal rulings, such as Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Fair Housing Act of 1968, also contributed to a decline in incidence of Additionally there have been a number of private and/or public sector site-specific programs emphasizing urban renewal. These include, Gray Areas, Mobilization for Youth, Model Cities, Enterprise/ Opportunity Zones, and community-based organizations, inclusive of community development corporations, many of which were products of War on P overty (Halpern 1995). Despite these efforts William Julius Wilson claims there is a 'new urban poverty' [characterized by] segregated neighborhoods in which a substantial majority of individual adults are either unemployed or have dropped out of labor force altogether (1996:19). This reality garners attention of politician and social scientist alike, each searching for answers to a seemingly convoluted problem. The apparent intractability may well call for perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to examine ideas of John M. Perkins as they pertain to new urban poverty. In late 1940s he left racial oppression of Mississippi for opportunities of California, but returned to address injustices of his people. Perkins became a visionary of central city neighborhood renewal in community development tradition and a co-founder of Christian Community Development Association. His life corroborates Marshall's and Stackhouse's observation regarding primacy of religious and economic thought and institutions in molding society. The presentation and assessment of Perkins' model contributes to public policy debate on efforts to improve well-being of many residing in impoverished urban communities. The model is qualitatively different than those offered to date because of its emphasis on a parish church, long-term relationships, relocation of leaders to community, reconciliation of people across race and class, and a redistribution predicated on a prior relocation and reconciliation. …