Paints a critical picture of community work which, according to the authors has amounted to less than the sum of its parts. Their comparative study of efforts in the US, the UK, and Canada analyzes the limits and potential of this work. Covering dozens of groups, and discussing alternative models, it is at once historical and contemporary, global and local, and addresses one of the vital issues of our day - the role and meaning of community in people's lives and in the larger political economy.