New book shows how community empowerment programmes can strengthen democracy in times of crisis

Led by Dr Imogen Bayfield, the research also shows how societal cultures of organising drive sociopolitical inequalities, even in contexts designed to foster inclusivity. 

The book arrives as governments are expanding place-based investment, and sets out practical lessons for designing community empowerment programmes that actually devolve power.  

The five-year project tracked three community groups, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups were part of the Big Local programme, which provided funding of at least £1 million each to 150 areas across England. 

Over 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork, Dr Bayfield observed how communities and groups organised, who took part and what helped or hindered their work. 

The research found that communities who received funding through Big Local developed organising capacities that enabled them to run initiatives that benefitted their neighbourhoods, cultivate local civil society, and imagine alternative futures for their communities. It also showed how societal cultures of organising shaped how the groups worked, providing resources but also reproducing inequalities. This offers a new lens for understanding sociopolitical inequalities. 

Importantly, Bayfield argues that community empowerment programmes have genuine benefits for the people involved and for the communities and societies they are based in. These programmes bring together people who would not otherwise meet, foster a sense of belonging, build new skills for deliberation and collective action, and develop networks capable of mobilising quickly in a crisis. A clear example of this came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having worked together for several years before the pandemic meant the community groups were able to respond quickly, and in some cases the groups’ collective capacities were even strengthened by working together during the crisis. 

Yet time, financial security, cultural capital and familiarity with formal meeting-room conventions such as minutes, agendas, chairing a meeting, and the interactive 'norms' of meetings all affect how involved people get, how comfortable they feel and whether they end up leading. People from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to step into leadership roles, not because they seek control, but because they already hold skills the group – and society – recognises as useful. 

Community groups also tended to adopt organising habits borrowed from large institutions, even when they had the freedom to do things differently. Bayfield argues that these 'organising logics' constrain what communities imagine is possible and quietly reproduce existing inequalities. 

The research recommends that future community empowerment programmes pair funding and freedom with structured support from the outset. Practical steps include offering training to help groups reflect on their capacity and how to grow it, and on how their organising methods affect who participates and what issues they choose to address.  

Bayfield also calls for programmes to foster the conditions in which groups and communities can engage in 'collective imagining' exercises, in which group members talk openly about what they want for their neighbourhood and society without restriction. These exercises were hugely beneficial, expanding ambition and lifting morale, but groups and communities could only engage with them fully when they already had strong relationships and enough capacity to manage their day-to-day workload. 

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Notes to editors  

• Engaged Publics: Community Empowerment and Collective Organizing in Times of Crisis is published by Bristol University Press in September 2026. 
• Dr Bayfield is available for interview; please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange. 
• The book is available at: bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/engaged-publics 
• A policy briefing based on the research is available here https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2026/08/04/policy-briefing-what-next-for-community-empowerment/