Culture as Agent of Social Change in Community Development

Abstract

Community work has a long tradition in Spain, although the term Community Cultural Development (CCD) is much more recent. In this article we advocate the use of the term, we review the history of the practice, going back to the years after World War II, and we see how it has become what it is today. We take a look at cultural policy, the concept of citizenship and host society models; we address the challenge of participation, fundamental in processes of community work; we discuss the role of culture and creativity in the process of community work and we look at the contribution of artists. Finally we give an outline of a possible methodological framework for CCD intervention projects and set out the phases for project development: diagnosis, raising awareness of the collective aspect, group participation in setting the objectives of each phase of the project, planning, execution, and finally evaluation.