Generating Community Change 347However, these linkages to the outside through investment can be risky in
terms of the collective agency of a community. There is an old saying: ‘He who
pays the piper calls the tune.’ This means that the source of funding, whether the
federal government or a multinational corporation, can impose a large number of
conditions on the delivery of capital resources. Sometimes those conditions actu-
ally cost the community more than they gain. For example, a number of studies
have shown that the tax abatements, infrastructure construction and other finan-
cial incentives poured into attracting industry in the 1980s did not even pay back
the local public investment, much less create wealth in the local community.
Another important type of outside linkage is less hierarchical and therefore less
risky in terms of loss of collective agency: more and more communities are form-
ing horizontal linkages with other communities that have faced and dealt with
similar problems of their own. This type of lateral learning by community groups
tends to foster rather than impede collective agency. Community groups analyse
their own situation and consider alternative ways to confront it. Often a commu-
nity member knows of another community that has faced a similar problem. Cit-
izen-to-citizen exchanges take place as the group that has tried a solution explains
both the process and the outcome to the other community.
For example, when Lexington, Nebraska, became the site of a large IBP meat-
packing plant, it met with community leaders from Denison, Iowa, where IBP
began as Iowa Beef Packers, and from Garden City, Kansas, where IBP’s largest
processing plant is located, to learn of the problems and discuss potential solu-
tions. As part of the general move to consolidation in the food industry, IBP was
purchased by Tyson Foods, Inc., in 2001. Because the communities already had
links, they were better able to work together to understand the implications of the
change in ownership. The acquisition by communities of information relevant to
their needs through lateral learning and technical assistance can strengthen their
ability to maintain collective agency when they enter into joint ventures or other
means of obtaining capital from the outside in order to improve their own quality
of life.
Planning as part of the change process
Increasingly, communities are recognizing that planning is a key part of develop-
ment. Planning may serve any of the types of community development, but the
approach to planning differs significantly according to the model of community
development being pursued.
Planning is an integral part of the technical assistance model of community
development. Under this model, the primary concern is with the final product, the
plan, which can then be used as a map that displays the explicit tasks that must be
performed. Professional planners charged with developing community planning
documents may consult with the community when necessary either by talking to
designated leaders, conducting surveys, or presenting results to community meet-
ings. Community members are involved in the process not as active participants in