Community Organizing Principles Community Development: Aboriginal vs.

Community Organizing Principles Community Development: Aboriginal vs. Feminist Principles: Examining Similarities and Differences Community development is vital for all humans. No matter what the term utilized, this action has been undertaken in all societies, for it binds us together and keeps us safe from the outside world. Furthermore, community development brings trust and resources that cannot be furthered but a single individual.

For this reason, a social contract is necessary and it is for this reason as well that communities has formed and have existed for so long, in a wide variety, and so successfully. The paragraphs below will examine two communities, namely the aboriginal community at-large and the feminist community, and will compare and contrast principles of community development. Aboriginal Principles Achieving a successful community development practice in today's aboriginal communities, all over the world, has been quite a challenge.

In Australia, for example, the trauma inflicted by the colonial and postcolonial era still reverberates with many, and has, according to one author, "removed the close cultural kinship ties that existed previously within Indigenous communities across Australia."[footnoteRef:1] The result of these events has rendered these vital and vibrant communities fractured to a great extent. Most members now live in areas where there are many other groups, and are subject to problems such as family violence and drug dependency, according to Higgins (2005), all of which are only increasing. [1: Higgins, D. (2005).

Early Learnings: Indigenous Community Development Projects. Telstra Foundation Research Report. Retrieved October 23, from < http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/reports/telstra2/telstra2.html#indigenous>.] In order to even begin to solve such issues, one must therefore look towards aboriginal principles of community development and prioritize areas in which these would be most useful. One issue to be addressed are the wound of the past. In aboriginal community development, there must be first and foremost an awareness of history, of exploitation and oppression, according to Higgins (2005).

Furthermore, the indigenous perspective sees this development as "working with communities to assist communities in finding plausible solutions to the problems they have identified," according to Higgins (2005). Such problems can range from lack of employment or underemployment, lack of clean water resources, lack of cleanliness (sewage issues), and poor housing and health conditions, all of which are persistent and serious problems that can be addressed well through the adaptation of the principles described above.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Points taken from: Chalise, K. (2011). Aboriginal Communities Development Program. Human Services ASW.

Retrieved October 23, from .] Feminist Principles The paragraphs above have described the situation for indigenous peoples and has also given areas in which community principles can help rectify damage and ensure success.

Though there are many differences between feminist principles and aboriginal principles, with one clear difference between the groups and their situations today, the main similarity is found in the fact that both groups have been marginalized, both have endured decades of inferiority and discrimination, and both fight with the principles they have to make their respective communities better, wherever they are. In order to examine more differences, however, it is first important to look at feminist organizing (FO).

FO, according to one author is a "process designed to legitimize the lived experience of marginalized women, include diverse partners, equitably distribute power and responsibility, and foster respectful social connections."[footnoteRef:3] Though this many seem familiar with the poverty and community related issues described in aboriginal communities above, feminist principles and organizing focus on issues in a different way. For instance, another important facet of FO is power sharing, which is not found as clearly in the paragraphs above. This is defined as being "committed to.