Ledwith, M. (2011). Community development: a critical approach, 2nd ed. Bristol, Policy Press.
This book outlines a critical approach to community development, or 'radical community development'. The first chapter focuses on the question 'why empower?', tracing a history of radical community development and relating it to debates about the Big Society and critiques of radical community development. The next chapters explore community profiling and the idea of critical praxis, the influence of the ideas of Paul Friere, Antonio Gramsci and feminist theory on critical pedagogy, and emancipatory action research as a principle of organising in the community, concluding with a call for reclaiming the radical agenda within community development. The research is mainly theoretical and practical in orientation, but also includes extensive discussion of research methods for radical community development, including participatory practice and community action research.