Investing in communities in the United States: social capital, asset building and local enterprise

This chapter by James Midgley discusses asset building at the community level in the United States where community development programmes have a long history and have prioritized inventions that transcend traditional welfare approaches. Noting that the literature on social investment has paid little if any attention to investments at the community level, this chapter examines the way the federal and state governments of the United States, supported by nonprofit organizations, have sought to invest in low-income communities by mobilizing assets, expanding employment, increasing access to education and affordable housing, and raising standards of living. It begins by tracing the origins of the community social investment approach in the late nineteenth century, when the settlement house movement introduced a number of initiatives designed to deal with urban poverty and deprivation brought about by industrialization, urbanization and mass migration into the United States. These activities were subsequently augmented by programmes introduced during the War on Poverty in the 1960s. The chapter discusses the way these programmes have evolved and now comprise a variety of community and asset building initiatives throughout the country. It concludes by assessing the achievements as well as limitations of the community social investment approach in the United States. Key words: social investment, international social welfare, community development, United States of America