ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses by reviewing the literature on communities of practice, social movements and network organisations, and assessing their relevance to the practices of development education. The extent to which these concepts are relevant to understanding development education needs to be situated within the specific social and historical context of a particular country. The value of the concept of a social movement seems in most countries to be rhetorical and desirable, and only evident if there is a close relationship with wider movements or specific campaigns. A review of development education across Europe in the early 1990s also emphasised the lead role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), often with a grouping of visionary and hard-working individuals. Peer reviews of global education through the Global Education Network Europe (GENE) process across Europe also show similar traditions, although the influence of voluntary organisations has been smaller within Central Europe.
