Theory Forum 2016 - Carl Lee (Life Long Learning, TUOS): Praxis, Community and the Civic University

"Community is a concept that has been invoked right across the political spectrum, whether through a soft communitarian 'Big Society' or in more 'critical' analysis framed by the thinking of theorists such as Paulo Freire and Antonio Gramsci. No development or social change can move forward without at least a nod to community and almost universally community is seen as a 'good idea'. From community development big ideas can flow as the elevation of Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama in the USA demonstrates as both were influenced to some degree by community organizer and thinker Saul Alinsky."
"Yet thinking about community simply is not sufficient for meaningful engagement to flow from such thought. It could be argued that to some extent The University of Sheffield's assertion that it is a 'civic university' engaged with the communities that surround it lacks any concrete meaning to the majority of Sheffield's citizen's. This short presentation will address the challenge of applying theoretical understanding of communities with the practical application of that understanding within the many communities of Sheffield and its city region.
The idea of praxis, it will be argued, must become a more central part of academic practice in order to make higher education more relevant to more peoples' lives. Simply put it is about both talking the talk and walking the walk."
"Ledwith, Margaret (2007) 'Reclaiming the radical agenda: a critical approach to community development', Concept Vol.17, No.2, 2007, pp8-12."
"Goddard, John. (2009) ' Reinventing the Civic University' NESTA -provocation"
"www.nesta.org...."
"Emejulu, Akwugu (2016) 'Community Development as Micro-politics' Policy Press. Bristol."