With the increasing focus on "community" as the site for renewing democracy, improving policymaking, and enhancing service delivery, this book provides a challenging approach to understanding community practice. It offers a much-needed theoretical perspective, sets out an analysis of power and empowerment, and explores new ways of understanding active citizenship. Demands being placed on individuals and organizations involved in community programs have become increasingly complex and greater clarity about community practice is needed. This book provides just that and is designed to complement the authors" edited volume Managing Community Practice.