Call for Submissions: Shelterforce Magazine

Posted by on January 15, 2007

Friends and Colleagues

Shelterforce magazine is inviting submissions for articles to be published in 2007. The three interrelated themes described below focus on the changing world of community development by looking at the physical, social and political activities of the movement, the changing contexts within which community development practitioners and advocates work, and the evolving nature of the work itself.

We hope to broadly disseminate this request for submissions and ask that you help us by posting this to lists you?re on that might be appropriate.

If you?re interested in writing for us, please submit a brief query to articles@nhi.org no later than January 31st. First draft submissions will be due on April 2nd for articles on the ?Forty Years Later? theme and June 15th for the remaining themes. You?ll find information about writing for Shelterforce at the end of this note and on our Web site, http://www.nhi.org/online/write.html.

Theme 1: Forty Years Later

In 1967, riots and civil rebellion erupted in the cities of Detroit and Newark, drawing the nation?s attention to such chronic problems as deteriorating inner cities, urban poverty, and residential segregation. Around the country, a season of turmoil came on the heels of judicial and legislative victories of the civil rights movement. All were important, but they were not enough to undo what the oft-quoted Kerner Commission would describe, in 1968, as two separate societies ? black and white, separate and unequal. Now, after 40 years of community organizing and community development, it?s clear to most observers, especially after the devastation and gross mismanagement of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, that we still have a long way to go to rectify the consequences of ?separate and unequal.?

We will consider articles about Detroit and Newark, as well as other places that have suffered under similar circumstances, that explore the relationships and roles of race, class and power in a city?s revival (or stagnation). We are especially interested in how the community development field has performed in such places. Has it been part of the solution or part of the problem? Has it helped dismantle inequities based on race, class, power and other factors ? or has it reinforced them? We prefer articles by or about practitioners and are less interested in academic or theoretical essays, unless they are firmly grounded in real-life stories.

We will welcome first person accounts by people who experienced the riots and worked to improve their communities over these past years. We also invite the submission of photo essays on Detroit and Newark.

Theme 2: Community Development at a Crossroads

The roots of the modern community development movement are ? relatively speaking ? clear. They come from such places as Lyndon Johnson?s War on Poverty and Robert F. Kennedy?s vision of economic self-empowerment leading to community revitalization.

For many years, the form of this movement was embodied in the community development corporation, while its functions ranged from community organizing and political engagement to housing development and job creation. Today, form and function in community development are more fluid and the roles of CDCs are much different than they were in the movement?s early days.

We invite articles that examine what community development is today and the roles of CDCs within this changing field. We want articles that consider how community development is defined in specific market or social contexts and explore who the key actors are, and what their relationships and roles are or could be or should be.

We are also interested in explorations of the type of geographic area best suited to contemporary community development approaches. Is it a neighborhood? A city? A region? What relationships must community change agents understand to be effective locally and regionally? How do community development actors actually work in a regional context, and how should they work in order to be more effective?

Finally, as younger leaders emerge in both the broader community development field and in community development corporations, we would like to know what their backgrounds and perspectives are and how they are changing this work.

Theme 3: Eminent Domain and Community Development

While the use of eminent domain for redevelopment has been ongoing for many decades, attention was focused dramatically on this issue with the 2005 decision by the United States Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London. Using the specter of widespread eminent domain abuse, opponents have pushed for action at the state level to bar its use for economic development or redevelopment, where it involves private developers and results in benefits to private parties.

There is no question that the power of eminent domain has been abused, and that corrections are needed. But there are also many cases where redevelopment and eminent domain have been used for positive purposes such as forcing out abusive owners of distressed housing complexes, assembling land for affordable housing, restoring a block through rehab of abandoned properties and infill and bringing a supermarket into a distressed neighborhood.

We invite stories about how redevelopment using eminent domain should be done. How can the interests of residents and small business owners be protected without unduly restricting local governments, nonprofits and CDCs in their efforts to build healthy neighborhoods, develop affordable housing and create jobs? How can community development practitioners and advocates turn the debate on eminent domain and redevelopment toward more productive, balanced solutions? We are particularly interested in articles that identify best practices, model legislation and creative compensation approaches.

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Writing for Shelterforce

Launched in 1975, Shelterforce examines affordable housing and community development in low-income communities. While much of our focus is on housing, Shelterforce also covers issues beyond bricks and mortar, including economic development, education, safety, transportation, arts, health and the environment. We also focus on community organizing, collaborative activities and political engagement.

Shelterforce covers events, individuals and organizations. We are always interested in how groups are organizing their communities, how they are dealing with local and regional issues, how they are engaging power structures and the lessons that can be drawn from their successes or failures. In this age of diminishing resources for social justice, we especially want to know how groups large or small are meeting the range of challenges facing those working towards equitable and sustainable community development; what new strategies are being developed and new alliances and partnerships created.

Always, we try to make our articles useful and practical and full of specific examples. We avoid theory and opinion that is not grounded in specifics.

For more information about writing for Shelterforce, please go to: http://www.nhi.org/online/write.html.