Community Power Structure Research Articles

Rethinking the concept of “Public” in colonial South Malabar, Kerala, India

This article looks at the structure of “public” and its meanings in colonial South Malabar. What factors influence various social groups to engage with colonial public and unfold as key political players? How did upper caste-dominated colonial publics affect local political contexts? Why were certain social groups silenced as other groups were overwhelmingly favored in colonial publics? By analyzing the case of Kalpathy struggles in Palakkad, this paper brings the nuances of how claims for public were articulated, the responses of the state and nationalist movement, regional politics, and contestations. This essay demonstrates how the modern political process facilitates the formation of groups into political subjectivities, as well as how they influence exclusionary community power structures.

The Perceived Role of Non-Elected Actors in Community Power Structure in Poland: Results of a Survey Experiment

Administrative decisions can be influenced not only by policies formulated by elected representatives but also by various external actors. From classic elitist and pluralist theories of community power to urban regime and network governance concepts, academic studies tell us that several institutional and individual actors with no electoral democratic legitimacy may have a significant impact on local government decision-making. In our paper, we ask the question who they are in contemporary Polish cities. Are there any systematic regularities in this respect concerning e.g. how they differ depending on the size of the local community? In this paper we look at the phenomenon through the lens of citizens’ perception of the influence on important administrative decisions made in local governments. In this research, we also check whether the style of local political leadership perceived by citizens is reflected in their expectations toward the propensity of local authorities to consider the opinions. Data is collected through a survey conducted on a representative sample of 2,000 Polish citizens who were asked about their perception of the impact of various business and societal actors. The study uses the survey experiment method in which various formulations of the question are randomly assigned to individual respondents, which allows us to measure the perceived influence of individual types of actors. Referring to the recent debate on the limitation of the applicability of regime theory to large cities only, we place a special attention to the impact of city size on the role of big and small businesses as well as various societal organizations.

Relating community capacity to the adoption of an evidence-based prevention strategy: a community-level analysis

Abstract Aim In community-based prevention, adopting an evidence-based strategy is known to predict prevention success. Evidence-based prevention includes a theoretical framework, empirical assessment, effective programs, and monitoring of community efforts and outcomes. This study aims to examine the extent to which community capacity explains variation in evidence-based prevention, a known predictor of community-based prevention success. Subject and methods The present study is a secondary data analysis based on a survey of 182 key informants in 38 communities. To determine the validity of the measurement, structural validity, internal consistency, and inter-rater agreement were assessed. Associations between adoption of evidence-based prevention and ten domains of community capacity (participation, knowledge & skills, resources, leadership, community power, collaboration consisting of prevention collaboration and sectoral-collaboration, sense of community, critical awareness & problem solving, and community structure) were investigated at the community level using logistic regression models. Results Most findings of the validation analysis indicate that the community capacity domains could be reliably measured using key informant reports. Results of logistic regression models indicate that adopting evidence-based prevention is related to increased sense of community (OR 6.62; 95 % CI 2.39-18.39), prevention collaboration (OR 26.05; 95 % CI 5.98-13.39), sectoral-collaboration (OR 10.49; 95 % CI 4.04-27.25), community power (19.29; 1.74-28.12), and community structure (OR 4.79; 95 % CI 1.85-12.43). Availability of leadership was predictive of higher chances of adopting evidence-based prevention (OR 5.21; 95 % CI 1.93-14.02). Conclusion Our findings suggest that communities with higher community capacity have increased chances of adopting an evidence-based prevention strategy. Trial registration This study was registered with German Clinical Trial Register: DRKS00022819 on Aug 18, 2021.

Supportive Agency and the Statization of Local Governance: The Practice of Power of the Village Governance Body in the Context of Transformation

Abstract The practice of power of the village governance body is an important perspective from which to understand the form of local governance as well as a crucial aspect of the capacity of local governance. In local government building, the village governance body has the special feature of supportive agency – that is, the secretary of the village Party committee has only incomplete governance power, but he/she does have the power to allocate resources in the village. Different from the personalization of power in an oligarchy, the power of a supportive agent is something that local rural elites rely on to gain resources. They then use those resources as a hook to draw in other participants and use public rules to embed themselves into the governance of village affairs, thereby forming the power structure of the grassroots community. The network of power and interests in the interaction between township and village and the pattern of profit-sharing in the village constitute the basis for this practice of power under supportive agency. The supportive relationship between local government and village cadres has led to a separation between the cadres and the peasants, a rupture of the state-peasant relationship, increasing social differentiation, and weakened village autonomy. The practice of supportive agency reflects changes in the logic of local governance – local autonomy has been turned into local governance statization. Thus, in these circumstances, in order to achieve a successful transition to modernized local governance, the linkage between the state and the peasants should be rebuilt, and the local organization of governance should be reshaped.

Connecting the Chinese Diaspora: See Boon Tiong and His Temple Networks in Singapore and Malacca

This study examines the temple networks of the 19th-century Chinese community leader See Boon Tiong （薛文仲） in Singapore and Malacca in order to cognize his rising influence in both places. In the early years of his career in Singapore, See Boon Tiong expanded his social networks by founding the Keng Teck Whay （庆德会）, as well as through his active involvement in the affairs of Chinese temples. In 1848, the Keng Teck Whay, represented by See Boon Tiong, precipitated the establishment of the Cheng Wah Keong Temple （清华宫） in Malacca and the organization of the “Wangchuan” （王船） Ceremony, thereby consolidating See’s leadership in the local Chinese community. This also provides insights into the process of the reconstitution of power by the Malaccan Chinese merchants in their hometown after forging social networks in Singapore. In the 1850s, See’s influence, exerted through these networks, further penetrated Cheng Hoon Teng Temple （青云亭）in Malacca, outstripping the authority and influence of Tengzhu （亭主） Tan Kim Seng （陈金声）, and engendered the dominance of the Hokkien Zhangzhou （漳州） group to which he belonged. The biography of See Boon Tiong is a microcosm of the strategies which ethnic Chinese leaders in Southeast Asia in the 19th Century deployed to amalgamate and cement their power and influence in society. This also exemplifies the interplay and inseparability between the leadership of the Chinese communities in Singapore and Malacca, and highlights the influential role and agency of these power networks behind the temples in transforming the power structure of the Chinese community in that era.

Community Power Structure: The Gender Perspective

The need to integrate the Nigerian women fully into the country’s development process poses a challenge which cannot be ignored. This is because societal development or progress cannot be achieved where the needs and contributions of half of the population who are women are downgraded, marginalized or ignored. The paper interrogates the perceived or real marginalization of women in the scheme of things in Nigeria in the face of women’s enormous propensity to contribute meaningfully to societal development. The study relied on secondary source of data collection and adopted “Decisional model” or approach as its analytical framework. The study found that woman’s potential contributions to societal development whether at the community or national level are often neglected and wasted due to some archaic traditions about the status of women in the society. The paper recommended that women be accorded their pride of place to make useful contributions to the progress of the Nigerian nation.

Social Work Practice with Local Communities in Balochistan: Essential for Political Engagement

The article argues a variety of characteristics of social work, wide community practice movements, and necessities for political engagement in local communities in Balochistan. Drawing on secondary knowledge and also the author's observations and analysis on community development in Balochistan, it highlights a question: do social work practice in local communities typically, and notably through political engagement? The analysis shows wide community practice movements in Balochistan and argues that social work and their profession are practically absent in local communities, and after they are thus engaged, most of them don't interact politically. Insight of local communities’ backgrounds and people’s depressing circumstances, the very important for social work to interact politically in community practice are mentioned. These are as follows: holding to values social work practice with communities, creating access and gaining acceptance, awareness-raising and capability building, difficult artful and oppressive community power structures, and make certain property community development. Finally, it's argued that too with success address these necessities, social work might have to alter its non-political and non-religious unbiased stand, wherever appropriate. In several conditions, social workers have to be compelled to specialize in the profession’s basic values and principles and keenly interact with local politics and power structures so on improving the living conditions of individuals and local communities in Balochistan.

Networks, Civil Associations and the Transformation of Local Governance Space: Homeowners’ Organizations in Urban China

Due to the housing reform, a large number of homeowners’ associations have been established in urban China, and they play an increasingly important role in the reconfiguration of neighborhood space and community power structure. This paper examines the function of this kind of civil associations in neighborhood politics and the dynamics of their operation. It finds that, although the establishment of homeowners’ associations was due to the formal institutional change which had been initiated by the state, their actual operation is influenced by local social networks. In other words, through these formal civil associations, informal networks wield influence in local power structure. On the one hand, the existence of informal networks facilitates civil resistance against the domination of local authorities and citizens’ struggle for community autonomy. On the other hand, the extensive deployment of informal networks may lead to the formation of faction politics and oligarchy of a few privileged citizens to the exclusion of other ordinary citizens. The result of these interactions and struggles further shape and reshape neighborhood space. Therefore, informal networks have contextual influence on neighborhood space and local governance.

The Power Behind the Scenes [enno shitano chikaramochi]: The Activism of Buddhist Women in Hawai‘i

The Power Behind the Scenes [enno shitano chikaramochi]: The Activism of Buddhist Women in Hawai‘i Kelli Y. Nakamura (bio) Onna no chikara . . . It’s not the strength that is on the outside, but from the inside. From way deep inside . . . The women are the backbone of the temple.1 These remarks by Atsuko Hasegawa, former president of the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin temple fujinkai (women’s organization), bring to light the often unacknowledged contributions of women in the spread and success of Buddhism in Hawai‘i. These women were not simply spouses and helpmates; they were teachers, activists, and organizers who fulfilled both family and community roles and responsibilities in a female-centered understanding of their activities. Many of these individuals have been characterized as possessing “Onna no chikara” [a woman’s strength] as they were critical to the success and survival of many temples that became the center of community life in many early Japanese communities. Although women provided critical spiritual, financial, and community support to the temples, their activism was often conducted in a domestic capacity—like cleaning, cooking, or maintaining the temple—resulting in the perception [End Page 89] women have played a secondary, if not insignificant role in Buddhism in the Islands. Thus, while studies often point to the many men who founded the church, the activism of the thousands of women who sustained the Buddhist church in its over 100-year history deserves recognition, as they played a critical role in the establishment and perpetuation of Buddhism in the Islands. By reexamining their actions through a constructivist approach that promotes the importance of ideas in establishing organizations and creating notions of identity, it becomes clear that they created what Benedict Anderson termed an “imagined community” of followers committed to establishing the Japanese immigrant population in the Islands through the duality and overlapping responsibilities of their public and private roles.2 As Buddhism arrived in the Islands to meet the spiritual needs of the immigrant community, these women helped to establish the Japanese community in Hawai‘i through work and family life. They provided religious support and fellowship by creating a spiritual sisterhood of minister’s wives, laypersons, and fujinkai members who served as the “backbone of the church.” Women were critical in the stabilization of the Japanese community as well as the spread of Buddhism in the Islands through their spiritual, social, and financial contributions. Despite the thousands of Japanese women who served as bōmori (ministers’ wives), missionaries, and participants in fujinkai, which were attached to many of the temples, scholars have not examined these organizations or the role of women in the spread of Buddhism due to a number of related factors. First, conventional research methodologies often assume the natural superiority of men in community organizations, ignoring women’s participation and contributions. Secondly, many researchers often focus on the business, political, and economic areas of community decision-making in which women have been assumed to be absent.3 Thus, women are seldom perceived as local power elites, and their invisibility in the local community power structure is often taken for granted. Yet, historically, women have played an important role in Buddhism for over 2,500 years, attracting the full spectrum of womankind: grieving mothers and rebellious daughters, courtesans and empresses, and scholars and illiterates. Modern scholars have often overlooked women’s contributions in Buddhism and, in some cases, women were [End Page 90] denied equal participation in the religion in changing social and cultural milieus. Thus, while Buddhism has sometimes been a progressive influence that has supported female leaders who challenged male dominance through their activism, it has also existed within patriarchal societies that limited women’s roles and visibility. Click for larger view View full resolution Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin Fujinkai Installation of Officers (1962) This paradox of activism and invisibility explains in part the role of Buddhist women in Hawai‘i—women who were active members within the newly formed social and religious community of Japanese immigrants. The women themselves have described their role as, “enno shitano chikaramochi,” or the power behind the scenes.4 The fujinkai adoption of domestic skills in the public sphere in particular corresponds with...

Community Power Structure Analysis and the Ethical Considerations of "Studying Up".

This narrative outlines our challenges in studying power and power structures within an individual-level ethical framework. Taking a social ethics perspective, we share the story of our "sticky situation" (Campbell, ) that transpired during a multi-year community partnership. We were asked, by our community partners, to help collect interview data without informed consent. As a team of community-engaged university researchers, we were faced with a seemingly easy ethical situation (no consent, no research) that had unexpectedly complicated and long-lasting consequences. This experience revealed to us how community-engaged research and action, under a traditional ethics framework, can often work to protect those in positions of power and offer little to disrupt the status quo. Reflecting on the tension between individual and social ethics, we discuss the limitations of an individual-level framework, including the definitions for respect for persons, justice, and beneficence, on our ability as a field to understand, critique, and contribute to the dismantling of oppressive power structures.

“We are more scared of the power elites than the floods”: Adaptive capacity and resilience of wetland community to flash flood disasters in Bangladesh

Studies on disaster risk reduction primarily centers on the research streams of vulnerability and resilience. The concept of adaptive capacity is central to both streams of study and has profound implications for disaster risk reduction. Drawing insights from both streams, we examined the adaptive capacity of wetland communities with regards to flash flood disasters. Focusing on societal dimensions, we investigated how the interplay of institutions, community power structures, and human agency shape adaptive capacity of wetland communities. We employed the “dominant-less dominant” research methodological framework, and followed a 4-tier study design: i) a household survey, ii) a semi-structured questionnaire survey, iii) oral history interviews, and iv) key informant interviews. Our findings revealed that wetland communities in the region are highly vulnerable to flash flood hazards. Local community members were conditioned, chiefly by the asymmetrical social power structure, to feel helpless in the face of natural disasters. Their reactive recovery measures have resulted in maladaptation and in their becoming passive towards risk mitigation for future floods. However, transformative patterns were also observed in a large proportion of the population, wherein community members modified or changed their behavior to achieve longer-term sustainability and risk mitigation. We concluded that in designing development interventions to enhance adaptive capacity, consideration must be given to the diverse range of skills and educational development among the local population.

Nontraditional Participation in Disaster Recovery Planning: Cases From China, India, and the United States

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Stakeholder participation facilitates efficient identification of recovery needs, dynamic exchange of information, and consolidation of diverse perspectives as well as builds long-term trust and social capital between stakeholders. Yet, planners often fail to use the full potential of participatory planning when they are caught in the fast-paced, uncertain, and complex post-disaster environment. We draw lessons from case studies on recovery planning after three major disasters: the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005), and the Wenchuan earthquake (2008) in China. We collected qualitative data about participatory planning using key informant interviews with stakeholders, supplemented by field observations, records of planning meetings, and government documents. We find that stakeholder participation in disaster recovery planning can happen in nontraditional yet effective ways, including indirect representation and active opposition. Disasters can rebalance power relationships and create more opportunities for participation by marginalized groups. Stakeholders’ participatory behaviors evolve over the course of recovery due to shifting priorities, intensified resource competition, and the difficulty of using “normal” participatory mechanisms.Takeaway for practice: Stakeholder participation, a time-consuming process, can actually speed up recovery in the long run. Planners must critically examine the local community's social and power structures, identify potential for nontraditional participation, tap into networks of indirect representation, and adapt to the changing landscape of actors and local interests to contend with the challenges of participation in disaster recovery and make use of new opportunities as they arise.

Social Work Practice With Local Communities in Developing Countries

The article discusses some features of social work, broad community practice trends, and imperatives for political engagement in local communities in developing countries. Drawing on secondary data and the author’s observations and research on community development in developing countries, it addresses an important question: Do social workers practice in local communities generally, and particularly through political engagement? The analysis shows broad community practice trends in developing countries and argues that social workers and their profession are almost absent in local communities, and when they are so engaged, most of them do not engage politically. In view of local communities’ contexts and people’s deprived conditions, the imperatives for social workers to engage politically in community practice are discussed. These are as follows: adhering to values/principles-based social work practice with communities, making an entry and gaining acceptance, awareness-raising and capacity building, challenging exploitative and oppressive community power structures, and ensuring sustainable community development. In conclusion, it is argued that to effectively address these imperatives, social work may need to alter its non-political and non-religious neutral stand, where appropriate. In many situations, social workers need to focus on the profession’s fundamental values and principles and actively engage with local politics and power structures so as to improve the living conditions of people and local communities in developing countries.

Examining social tagging behaviour and the construction of an online folksonomy from the perspectives of cultural capital and social capital

This study explores the relationships between cultural and social capital and online social tagging behaviour in Delicious.com , a social bookmarking web site that offers social tagging functionalities. Based on Bourdieu’s conception of cultural and social capital, an online questionnaire was developed to measure Delicious users’ capital possession and its influences on social tagging behavioural tendencies. The study findings showed that the offline/online cultural capital and offline social capital affected information organization-oriented tagging; offline/online social capital affected social oriented-tagging; offline/online cultural capital and offline/online social capital both affected strategic tagging; offline/online social capital affected tagging imitation. Based on the findings, we made inferences on the user roles and the power structure of a social tagging folksonomy community.

Elucidating the Power in Empowerment and the Participation in Participatory Action Research: A Story About Research Team and Elementary School Change

Community psychologists are increasingly using Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a way to promote social justice by creating conditions that foster empowerment. Yet, little attention has been paid to the differences between the power structure that PAR advocates and the local community power structures. This paper seeks to evaluate the level of participation in a PAR project for multiple stakeholder groups, determine how PAR was adjusted to better fit community norms, and whether our research team was able to facilitate the emergence of PAR by adopting an approach that was relevant to the existing power relations. We conclude that power differences should not be seen as roadblocks to participation, but rather as moments of opportunity for the researchers to refine their methods and for the community and the community psychologist to challenge existing power structures.

Media Publicity and Civil Society: Nonprofit Organizations, Local Newspapers and the Internet in a Midwestern Community

Media attention to the voluntary sector depends mainly on organizational resources of nonprofit organizations that can influence organizations' positions in a local community power structure. Relying on the resource dependency theory (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) as a conceptual framework, this study examines to what extent various features of nonprofit organizations yield different levels of media publicity through local newspapers and the Internet in a Midwestern community. Data were collected using multiple research methods, including public archive analysis, telephone and e-mail surveys, news archive analysis, and hyperlink analysis (N = 218). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses reveal that financially resource-rich, locally embedded organizations and organizations with larger numbers of directors and volunteers tend to receive more newspaper coverage. Analyses also indicate that nonlocal groups tend to receive more hyperlinks from other Web sites. Implications for media and voluntary associations in a civil society context are discussed.

Social Capital, Social Funds and Poor Communities: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract Social capital has captured the attention of social policy‐makers and development administrators, with its emphasis on social relationships, civic participation, collaborative action and norms of reciprocity. Social funds support small‐scale community‐based development projects aimed primarily at reducing poverty. This article synthesizes the relevant literature and explores the nexus between social capital and social funds in relation to poor communities. Drawing upon primary research in Jamaica, the article reports the outcomes of eight social fund sub‐projects that involved local organizations in community‐driven development processes. It analyses the role of social networks and the influence of community power structures in social capital creation. Social policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Civic Culture and Corporate Regime in Louisville

ABSTRACT:We examine the civic culture in Louisville focusing upon the community power structure, community value system, and public decision-making system as described by knowledgeable persons. Interviewees were selected for their first-hand knowledge of community decision making as participants and close observers and to represent different interests. Respondents described what resembles a corporate-centered regime in economic development but which does not necessarily extend to education. The civic culture and attendant myths hold together a city that otherwise is greatly divided by race, class, and status apparent in the geographic segregation of the community into the East, West, and South Ends. The city’s self identity and perception in some way may be at odds with its current situation and development strategies.

Community Power Structure: The Role of Local Leaders in Community Development Decision Making in Ajaawa, Oyo State, Nigeria

This study investigates the participation of local leaders in decision-making in Ajaawa Community of Oyo State, Nigeria. Sixty community leaders (both visible and concealed) were identified and interviewed with the aid of validated interviewed schedule. Data revealed that the respondents spread across social, political, religious and traditional functions. Twenty percent are female, 90% married, while 8% are below 40 years old, mean age is 58years. About 88% are literate. Major areas of decision-making where leaders regularly participate are religion, chieftaincy, community safety and community development. Community development commands the highest involvement (81.7%) followed by community safety (70%). Of all the CD projects undertaken in the last 5 years, the market had the highest proportion (71.7%) of leaders involved in its decision-making followed by the palace (63.3%). Leadership responsibility areas for each project are people mobilization, meetings, finance, and linkage. Personal participation in CD projects by the leaders revealed that the market and palace commanded the highest involvement. Where leaders unite and make sound collective decisions, the community maintains peace and development.

A Local Referendum Movement for Municipal Merger and the Change of Community Power Structure

1990年代後半から進められたいわゆる「平成の大合併」では，合併をめぐるコンフリクトが多数発生した。合併の是非や枠組みをめぐって，地域内が複数の派閥に分割され，地域社会の連帯が断ち切られることも多々あった。ただし，「昭和の大合併」研究を振り返ると，合併をめぐるコンフリクトが，「地域社会の民主化」の契機となったことが明らかにされたことがわかる。そこで本稿では，合併をめぐる住民投票運動が展開された群馬県富士見村を事例として，「平成の大合併」におけるコンフリクト構造の実態や，そのコンフリクトが地域社会にもたらした影響の解明に取り組んだ。 その結果，以下の諸点が明らかとなった。第１に，合併協議から離脱した富士見村に対し，他の自治体から行政上の提携解消という「制裁」が課せられることで，村内での合併の是非をめぐる対立が強化された。第２に，合併推進・反対両派とも，異なる階層間の連携や，同一階層間の対立が見られ，多様な階層から構成されていた。ここには，保守対立を基調する地域権力構造が関わっていた。そして第３に，合併をめぐるコンフリクトを通じて，それまでの地域権力構造が変容した。この原動力となったのは，教育や保育などの「生活のアメニティ」を重視する新住民である。このように，「平成の大合併」をめぐるコンフリクトでは，新住民を主たる担い手としながら，「地域社会の民主化」につながる動きが確認された。