Community Development Activism: A discussion of shifts in process in Sydney and Toronto

This is a comparative paper about tbe way that community development activists engage witb political process and institutions, and tbe strategies tbey subsequently adopt. The research is based on case studies of two community development organisations - tbe Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development (ISRCSD) and the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto (SPC). The paper places shifts witbin tbe two organisations in tbe wider context of political change and political activism in the two cities. In tbe 1970s and 1980s tbere were broad similarities between tbe two cities: in both cities community development activism in tbe 1970s was influenced by radical urban reform movements and interaction witb political institutions and policy agendas. The 1980s presented as a piVOtal period as tbe social policy agendas of governments began to change and community development was constructed of necessity witb a more economic emphasis. However, tbe late 1990s has seen a reinvigorated community-based activism in Toronto in response to a conservative provincial government. Understanding tbe shifts in political activism over tbe last three decades is useful for gaining an insigbt into the shaping of current community development activism. A further discussion needs to take place aboul what role community development organisations can undertake in current political climates in both cities, and about what Sydney is able to learn from tbe recent instances of community- based activism in Toronto.