“We have to go back to stories”: Causal Layered Analysis and the community development gateaux

Abstract

This article is a methodological exploration. It brings together three unlikely fields of knowledge: the practice field of community development, the organizational context of bureaucracy and the futures methodology known as Causal Layered Analysis (CLA). The paper begins by explaining CLA and then providing an overview of the field of community development within the organizational context of bureaucracy. It briefly describes the research process and then outlines findings at each layer of analysis. The paper concludes by reflecting upon the usefulness of CLA as a means of responding to dilemmas within the current practice of community development.