Introduction

The engagement of faith communities in regeneration and community renewal is a matter of keenly contested debate. Stakeholders bring varying, and not always compatible, perspectives to the table (Dinham and Lowndes, 2008). Leaders of faith groups aspire to a recognised role in regeneration but are liable to resist uncritical co-option into government agendas. Conversely, the pronouncements of national politicians and senior civil servants often assume that, with a little encouragement, people of faith will participate in the implementation of official policies and plans. Many professionals at the local level, whether in local authorities, regeneration agencies or third sector bodies, view faith organisations with a degree of suspicion and experience some difficulty in developing and maintaining good, productive relationships.

This chapter uses the concept of discourse to capture and explore these diverse stakeholder perspectives. Stakeholders develop a discourse concerning the events they experience and the debates in which they engage, a discourse that is also informed by their particular purposes and assumptions. Beliefs, experiences, stories, images and metaphors provide a framework of meaning, which, together, produce a particular version or discourse of events and how they should be interpreted (Burr, 2003; Butcher et al, 2007). A discourse provides an everyday, often unquestioned, way of thinking and speaking about situations and policies. The concept is used here in the singular to refer to the engagement of faiths with regeneration, but this discourse has various strands, aspects and elements that contribute to the whole.

The following discussion unravels the strands of this discourse on faiths, government and regeneration to develop better understandings and foundations for policy and practice. First, the discussion outlines a series of propositions regarding the elements of the discourse, defined in relation to the main stakeholders. These propositions are then given further assessment through the exploration of a case study based on primary research for the London Borough of Lewisham in 2006-07.

Stakeholder discourse

The policy discourse surrounding community involvement in regeneration has a long history (Fagence, 1977; Banks et al, 2003; Chanon, 2003). However, it was only in the 1990s that this ‘community’ focus extended to the participation of people identifying by their religion. The formation of the Inner Cities Religious Council in 1992 could be seen as a significant stimulus to this shift.