ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the city of Montreal, analysing the community development sector in two neighbourhoods and the ways that these organizations engage citizens in multiple processes of co-production. The chapter begins with an overview of the context, including the development of the third sector in Montreal and a brief discussion of the case studies. It then explores the rules; norms; and values, beliefs and ideas shown in the case study organizations as these define their approaches to co-production. The case studies, which belong to the ‘autonomous community sector,’ are shaped by government policies that support the sector’s independence from political pressure whilst guaranteeing them core funding for their activities. The organizations undertake practices that include community action groups, multiple forms of co-design workshops, and the formation of multi-organizational networks and partnerships to engage in co-production. Supporting these practices are values around autonomy, collective action and social change, and a dissociation of the community sector from the social economy. The overarching logic is thus a Social Movement Logic, characterized by the community logic and rejection of state and market. This creates conditions for co-production that is citizen-led, conducted across partnerships, and focused on societal change.
