Reclaiming the well-being agenda in community development

Abstract

Improving well-being did not use to be a controversial idea in community development. Yet, in recent years, the growing focus on well-being at the policy level has made many become critical of the term. Well-being has been employed to support government neo-liberal agendas by emphasizing individual responsibility over social justice. On this framing, improving well-being is thought to shift community development practice from challenging injustice to helping people feel and cope better with their lives. This article argues that, despite attempts to associate well-being with individual responsibility, the greater focus on well-being at the policy level is something to celebrate. This article draws upon the philosophy, psychology and sociology of well-being to make two arguments. The first argument is that conceptualizations of well-being are diverse and contested, and as such, it is important not to associate well-being with the narrow conception one is critical of. The second argument is that a greater focus on well-being can help communities challenge the reduction of welfare spending. Well-being, instead of de-politicizing development, can help reinforce its political stand. This article advocates for the use of pluralistic understandings of well-being within the framework of the capabilities approach to ensure community development advances social change.