Community Elites or Community Elitism? the Democratic Challenge of Empowering Community

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter links a historical literature on community elites to a modern debate about the nature of governance, the movement towards networks, and the implications of these changes for communities. The chapter looks at community elites through the lens of two critical questions: (1) Does empowering community elites at the local scale lead to more democratic governance? (2) Does empowering community elites at the local scale lead to justice or empower those prone to Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) policies? In addressing these questions, the chapter draws from an interdisciplinary literature base including writing on new governance, community elites, and the Right to the City, and provides illustrations from cases in New Orleans, LA.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHandbooks of Sociology and Social Research
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages79-94
Number of pages16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Publication series

NameHandbooks of Sociology and Social Research
ISSN (Print)1389-6903
ISSN (Electronic)2542-839X

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Psychology (miscellaneous)
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science

Keywords

  • Community
  • Community elites
  • Deliberative democracy
  • Informal governance
  • Network governance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Community Elites or Community Elitism? the Democratic Challenge of Empowering Community'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this