Community

A [|group] of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with [|social cohesion] within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a [|household].

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
Main article: [|Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft] German sociologist [|Ferdinand Tönnies] distinguished between two types of human association: // [|Gemeinschaft] // (usually translated as "community") and // [|Gesellschaft] // ("society" or "association"). In his 1887 work, //Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft//, Tönnies argued that//Gemeinschaft// is perceived to be a tighter and more cohesive social entity, due to the presence of a "unity of will." [|[3]] He added that [|family] and [|kinship] were the perfect expressions of //Gemeinschaft//, but that other shared characteristics, such as place or belief, could also result in//Gemeinschaft//. This paradigm of communal networks and shared social understanding has been applied to multiple cultures in many places throughout history. [|[4]] //Gesellschaft//, on the other hand, is a group in which the individuals who make up that group are motivated to take part in the group purely by [|self-interest]. He also proposed that in the real world, no group was either pure //Gemeinschaft// or pure //Gesellschaft,// but, rather, a mixture of the two.

Social capital
Main article: [|Social capital] If community exists, both freedom and security may exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as [|social capital]. [|[5]] Social capital is defined by [|Robert D. Putnam] as "the collective value of all [|social networks] and species (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these works to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)." [|[6]] Social capital in action can be seen in all sorts of groups, including neighbors keeping an eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in // [|Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community] // (2000), social capital has been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past 25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, family dinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45 percent. [|[7]] The same patterns are also evident in many other western countries. [|Western] [|cultures] are thus said to be losing the spirit of community that once were found in [|institutions] including [|churches] and [|community centers]. [|Sociologist] [|Ray Oldenburg] states in // [|The Great Good Place] // that people need three places: 1) the [|home], 2) the [|office] , and, 3) the community hangout or [|gathering place] . [|[8]] With this philosophy in mind, many [|grassroots] efforts such as The [|Project for Public Spaces] are being started to create this " [|Third Place] " in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores, coffeehouses, local pubs, and through new and innovative means to create the social capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community. [|[9]]

Main article: [|Sense of community] To what extent do participants in joint activities experience a [|sense of community] ? In a seminal 1986 study, McMillan and Chavis identify four elements of "sense of community": 1) membership, 2) influence, 3) integration and fulfillment of needs, and 4) shared emotional connection. They give the following example of the interplay between these factors: > Someone puts an announcement on the dormitory bulletin board about the formation of an intramural dormitory basketball team. People attend the organizational meeting as strangers out of their individual needs (integration and fulfillment of needs). The team is bound by place of residence (membership boundaries are set) and spends time together in practice (the contact hypothesis). They play a game and win (successful shared valent event). While playing, members exert energy on behalf of the team (personal investment in the group). As the team continues to win, team members become recognized and congratulated (gaining honor and status for being members), Influencing new members to join and continue to do the same. Someone suggests that they all buy matching shirts and shoes (common symbols) and they do so (influence). [|[10]] A //Sense of Community Index// (SCI) has been developed by Chavis and colleagues and revised and adapted by others. Although originally designed to assess sense of community in neighborhoods, the index has been adapted for use in schools, the workplace, and a variety of types of communities. [|[11]] Studies conducted by the APPA show substantial evidence that young adults who feel a sense of belonging in a community, particularly small communities, develop fewer psychiatric and depressive disorders than those who do not have the feeling of love and belonging.[// [|citation needed] //]

Communitarianism
Main article: [|Communitarianism] Communitarianism as a group of related but distinct philosophies (or [|ideologies] ) began in the late 20th century, opposing [|classical liberalism] and [|capitalism] while advocating phenomena such as [|civil society]. Not necessarily hostile to [|social liberalism], communitarianism rather has a different emphasis, shifting the focus of interest toward communities and societies and away from the individual. The question of priority, whether for the individual or community, must be determined in dealing with pressing ethical questions about a variety of social issues, such as [|health care], [|abortion] , [|multiculturalism] , and [|hate speech]. [|Gad Barzilai] has critically examined both liberalism and communitarianism and has developed the theory of [|critical communitarianism]. Barzilai has explicated how non-ruling communities are constructing legal cultures while interacting with various facets of political power. Being venues of identity construction justifies collective protections of communities in law, while the boundaries with other communities, states, and global forces should be sensitive to preservation of various cultures. [|Gad Barzilai] has accordingly offered how to protect human rights, individual rights, and multiculturalism in inter-communal context that allows to generating [|cultural relativism]. Wikipeadia