The Individualization of Intervention in Community Organizations: Openings or Barriers in Relation to Democracy?

This paper questions the fact that in some community-based organisations the level of intervention is often the individual rather than the community. This trend interferes with the internal participatory democratic practices within these organisations. To explain this relatively recent situation (beginning of the present decade) in many community-based organisations, various factors are taken into account : the large number of requests received by these groups ; the way we solve problems that people face ; the institutionalization of community intervention ; the pressure on organisations to integrate state services agendas. In this context, what actions are needed to stimulate the internal democratic practices within these groups ?