Delgado Fuentes, M: Community involvement in services for ch

Why do people decide to get involved in services for young children, families and communities? How and under what circumstances can this involvement become a meaningful experience? Those are the questions that underpinned this research, which is based on two case studies. The first case study explores the fascinating story of ordinary people creating and innovating services and influencing national and multinational policies through the pure strength of their values and beliefs. Following Manuel Castells, social movements have different identities and this is a documented case of a project identity in the field of education, where innovation and new ideas emerged 20 years before England‘s 1997 policy eventually turned in this direction. In contrast to this first case study, the second shows how publicly-funded services for young children can indeed improve people‘s lives but can also inhibit the forces of innovation, identification and networking. The book is written for policymakers, researchers and students from the fields of education, health and social services who are looking to work with children and their families.