Community economic development and capitalism: A Darwinian struggle of no pity?

This paper provides a broad qualitative critique of neo-liberal theory and practice that views Community Economic Development (CED) as “gap-filling”. It asks the question, why community economic development at all? By offering alternative visions to the prevailing economic model of a globalised planet, it is hoped that community practitioners will revisit beliefs and ideas that view community engagement and development from the bottom up rather than the top down. That is, to rekindle CED work from a perspective that begins in communities while counterbalancing expectations for unlimited economic growth with the urgent need for a sustainable, moral and planetary economy. As shameless advocates for community first, CED workers empower local knowledge to solve local problems for the socioeconomic and cultural development of both immediate and extended communities. Keywords: gap-filling; community economic development; intellects/intellectuals, Glass-Steagall Act; Keynesian mixed-economy; neo-liberalism; Marxism