CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY

Explore the ways in which we can understand the concept of 'Community'

Table of Contents

Consider the term community from a sociological and historical view point3

Industrialisation5

Early sociologist interest/views7

Durkheim7

Mechanica and organic solidarity, chacteristic of both of the above9

Tonnies10

Characteristics of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft10

Simmel11

Chicago school11

Early British sociological studies12

Changing communities13

Risk and uncertainty14

Post War14

Community and communitarism15

Social capital and social Exclusion15

Globalization16

Explore the ways in which we can understand the concept of 'Community'

Introduction

Communities in society have always been supported by whatever tools are available to their members at the time. Before writing, communities were very small because the enabling communication vehicle was the member's voice. Members shared their issues and concerns, triumphs and stories in person because that's all they had. Once writing was developed monks and scholars continued to meet in person, but were able to extend their communities by writing down their stories and sharing them with people beyond the sound of their voice. Socrates supposedly said that writing would lead to the end of civilization because people didn't have to be amongst one another any more (James, 2010).

Community: From A Sociological And Historical View Point

With Guitenburg's printing press, more people were able to contribute to the community and share their messages. Paul Revere's postal service became another tool, extending some communities wider... and then there was the telephone, the car, the airplane, and the Internet.

More importantly, a community is not just the people who are in it. A community usually was already existing when all of its current residents were not yet born, and it will likely continue to exist when all of the people in it have left. It is something that is beyond its very components, its residents or community members. A community may have members who have temporarily moved to other locations. They may wish to eventually return, but not all do. A "community" in some senses may not even have a physical location, but be demarcated by being a group of people with a common interest. In the training material here, however, the "community" which is the object of a mobilizer's attention, is usually one with a physical geographic location. Not only is the concept of a community a "construct" (model), it is a "sociological construct." It is a set of interactions, human behaviours that have meaning and expectations between its members. Not just action, but actions based on shared expectations, values, beliefs and meanings between individuals. To understand how a community operates, and how it changes, it is necessary to learn a little bit about sociology the science. The mobilizer is an applied scientist; social scientist. While a pure scientist is interested in how things work, the applied scientist is interested in taking that knowledge and getting useful results (James, 2010).

Furthermore, where technology is not based on local horticulture, the community residents may be physically mobile. They may be nomadic herders walking long distances with their cattle. They may be mobile fishing groups who move from time to time as the fish are ...