In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. See also Natural environment The '''biophysical''' environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the Biological The word community is derived from the Latin communitas (meaning the same), which is in turn derived from communis, which means "common, public, shared by all or many". Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[1] Communis comes from a combination of the Latin prefix com- (which means "together") and the word munis (which has to do with performing services).

In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Intention (criminal|Intentions An agent 's intention in performing an action is his or her specific Purpose in doing so the end Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a Proposition or Premise to be true Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified ( natural) form Preference (also called " taste " or "penchant" is a concept used in the Social sciences particularly Economics. Needs Assessment or Community Needs Analysis provides a method of assessing the total needs of a Community of people of that community for that community and by Risk is a Concept that denotes the precise probability of specific eventualities Identity is an Umbrella term used throughout the Social sciences to describe an individual's comprehension of him or herself as a discrete separate entity Traditionally in sociology, a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" In Sociology, a group can be defined as two or more Humans that interact with one another accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a However, the definition of the word "community" has evolved to mean individuals who share characteristics, regardless of their location or degree of interaction. See also community of interest. COI, Community of Interest is a means by which network assets and or network users are segregated by some technological means for some established purpose

Contents 1 Perspectives from various disciplines 1.1 Sociology 1.1.1 Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft 1.1.2 Individual and community 1.1.3 Social capital 1.2 Psychology 1.2.1 Sense of community 1.3 Anthropology 1.4 Social philosophy 1.4.1 Communitarianism 1.5 Business and communications 1.5.1 Organizational communication 1.6 Ecology 2 Interdisciplinary perspectives 2.1 Socialization 3 Community development 3.1 Community building and organizing 3.1.1 Community currencies 3.2 Community service 4 Types of community 4.1 Location 4.2 Identity 4.3 Overlaps 5 Special nature of human community 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

Perspectives from various disciplines

Sociology

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies presented a concise differentiation between the terms Gemeinschaft (usually translated as "community") and Gesellschaft ("society" or "association"). Ferdinand Tönnies ( July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort ( Eiderstedt, North Frisia) - April 9, 1936, Kiel Gemeinschaft ( gəˈma͡ɪnʃaft and Gesellschaft are sociological categories introduced by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies for two Gemeinschaft ( gəˈma͡ɪnʃaft and Gesellschaft are sociological categories introduced by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies for two 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. Gemeinschaft ( gəˈma͡ɪnʃaft and Gesellschaft are sociological categories introduced by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies for two "^[2] 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. 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; all were mixtures between the two.

Individual and community

Main article: Structure and agency

During human growth and maturation, people encounter sets of other individuals and experiences. The debate surrounding the influence of structure and agency on human thought and behaviour is one of the central issues in Sociology and other Social sciences In In Sociology, a group can be defined as two or more Humans that interact with one another accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a Infants encounter first their immediate family, then extended family, and then local community (such as school and work). They thus develop individual and group identity through associations that connect them to life-long community experiences. Identity is an Umbrella term used throughout the Social sciences to describe an individual's comprehension of him or herself as a discrete separate entity ^[3]

As people grow, they learn about and form perceptions of social structures. Social structure is a term frequently used in Sociology and Social theory — yet rarely defined or clearly conceptualised (Abercrombie et al During this progression, they form personal and cultural values, a world view and attitudes toward the larger society. A personal and cultural value is a Relative ethic value, an assumption upon which implementation can be extrapolated A comprehensive world view (or worldview) is a term Calqued from the German word Weltanschauung ( Welt is the German Attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's like or dislike for an item Gaining an understanding of group dynamics and how to "fit in" is part of socialization. Group dynamics is the study of groups and also a general term for group processes The term socialization is used by sociologists, social psychologists and Educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s Culture Individuals develop interpersonal relationships and begin to make choices about whom to associate with and under what circumstances. An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people In Sociology, a group can be defined as two or more Humans that interact with one another accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a ^[3]

During adolescence and adulthood, the individual tends to develop a more sophisticated identity, often taking on a role as a leader or follower in groups. A role (sometimes spelled rôle) or a social role is a set of connected Behaviors Rights and Obligations as conceptualized by actors The word leadership can refer to Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading If an individual develops the feeling that they belong to a group, and they must help the group they are part of, then they develop a sense of community. Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in social psychology (or more narrowly in Community psychology) which focuses on

Social capital

Main article: Social capital

If community exists, both freedom and security exist as well. Social capital is a concept in business economics, Organizational behaviour, Political science, Public health, Sociology and natural 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. Social capital is a concept in business economics, Organizational behaviour, Political science, Public health, Sociology and natural ^[4]

Social capital is defined by Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity). Robert David Putnam (born 1941 in Port Clinton Ohio) is a political scientist and professor at Harvard University. A social network is a Social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency such as " Social capital in action can be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbours 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. Bowling Alone America's Declining Social Capital (1995 is an essay by Robert D 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. ^[5]

Western cultures are thus said to be losing the spirit of community that once were found in institutions including churches and community centers. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Institutions are structures and mechanisms of Social order and Cooperation governing the Behavior of a Set of Individuals A church building is a Building or Structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. 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. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Ray Oldenburg (born 1932 is an urban sociologist from Florida who writes about the importance of informal public Gathering places for a functioning Civil society This article is about the book titled The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg. A home is a place of Residence or Refuge. It is usually a place where an individual or a family can rest in and be able to store Personal property. An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an Organization with specific duties attached A gathering place is any place where people are able to congregate ^[6]

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. For other meanings see Grass roots (disambiguation. A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a Political movement Project for Public Spaces (PPS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities. The third place is a term used in the concept of Community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the They are taking form in independent bookstores, coffeehouses, local pubs and through many innovative means to create the social capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community. ^[7]

Psychology

Sense of community

Main article: 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. Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in social psychology (or more narrowly in Community psychology) which focuses on Sense of community (or psychological sense of community) is a concept in social psychology (or more narrowly in Community psychology) which focuses on 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). Someone suggests that they all buy matching shirts and shoes (common symbols) and they do so (influence). ^[8]

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. ^[9]

Anthropology

Community and its features are central to anthropological research. Some of the ways community is addressed in anthropology include the following:

• Cultural (or Social) anthropological studies of community
• Cross-cultural differences in community
• Ethnographic fieldwork
• Archaeological studies of social communities. Cultural anthropology is one of four fields of Anthropology (the holistic study of humanity) as it developed in the United States. Social anthropology is the branch of Anthropology that studies how currently living human beings behave in social groups Cross-cultural comparisons take several forms One is comparison of case studies another is controlled comparison among variants of a common derivation and a third is comparison within a sample Ethnography ( Greek ethnos = people and graphein = writing is a genre of writing that uses Fieldwork to provide a descriptive Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos The term “community” is used in two ways in archaeology, paralleling usage in other areas. The first is an informal definition of community as a place where people used to live. In this sense it is synonymous with the concept of an ancient settlement, whether a hamlet, village, town, or city. The second meaning is similar to the usage of the term in other social sciences: a community is a group of people living near one another who interact socially. Social interaction on a small scale can be difficult to identify with archaeological data. Most reconstructions of social communities by archaeologists rely on the principle that social interaction is conditioned by physical distance. Therefore a small village settlement likely constituted a social community, and spatial subdivisions of cities and other large settlements may have formed communities. Archaeologists typically use similarities in material culture—from house types to styles of pottery—to reconstruct communities in the past. This is based on the assumption that people or households will share more similarities in the types and styles of their material goods with other members of a social community than they will with outsiders. ^[10]
• Anthropology of religion
• Anthropology of education
• Urban anthropology
• Ethnic and Racial Studies
• Community empowerment
• Virtual Internet communities (part of Cyber anthropology)
• Ecological anthropology
• Psychological anthropology

Social philosophy

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. The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across Cultures The anthropology of cyberspace is a minor subbranch of sociocultural anthropology that deals with cybernetic systems the culturally informed interrelationships between human Ecological anthropology is a subfield of Anthropology that deals with Human - environmental ( Culture -nature relationships over time and space Psychological anthropology is a highly interdisciplinary subfield of anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes. Communitarianism, as a group of related but distinct philosophies began in the late 20th century opposing in its opinion exalted forms of Individualism while advocating phenomena An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism, Laissez-faire liberalism, Market liberalism or in much of the world Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning Society as opposed to the force-backed 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. Social liberalism, also called new liberalism (as it was originally termed high liberalism radical liberalism, modern liberalism, or 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. Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing An The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the Demographics of a specified Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade intimidate or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, Gender

Business and communications

Organizational communication

Main article: Organizational communication

Effective communication practices in group and organizational settings are important to the formation and maintenance of communities. Organizational communication, broadly speaking is people working together to achieve individual or collective goals Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way How ideas and values are communicated within communities are important to the induction of new members, the formulation of agendas, the selection of leaders and many other aspects. Organizational communication is the study of how people communicate within an organizational context and the influences and interactions within organizational structures. An organizational structure is a mostly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim Group members depend on the flow of communication to establish their own identity within these structures and learn to function in the group setting. Although organizational communication, as a field of study, is usually geared toward companies and business groups, these may also be seen as communities. The principles of organizational communication can also be applied to other types of communities.

Ecology

Main article: Community (ecology)

In ecology, a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another. In Ecology, a community is an assemblage of Populations of different Species, interacting with one another

Interdisciplinary perspectives

Socialization

Main article: Socialization

The process of learning to adopt the behavior patterns of the community is called socialization. Behavior or behaviour (see spelling differences) refers to the actions or Reactions of an object or Organism, usually The term socialization is used by sociologists, social psychologists and Educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s Culture The most fertile time of socialization is usually the early stages of life, during which individuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the roles necessary to function within their culture and social environment. As commonly used, individual refers to a Person or to any specific object in a collection A role (sometimes spelled rôle) or a social role is a set of connected Behaviors Rights and Obligations as conceptualized by actors Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic The social environment (context, also known as the Milieu, is the identical or similar Social positions and Social roles as a whole that influence the individuals ^[3] For some psychologists, especially those in the psychodynamic tradition, the most important period of socialization is between the ages of 1 and 10. Psychodynamics, is the systematized study and theory of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior emphasizing the interplay between unconscious and conscious motivation and But socialization also includes adults moving into a significantly different environment, where they must learn a new set of behaviors. ^[11]

Socialization is influenced primarily by the family, through which children first learn community norms. Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors Other important influences include school, peer groups, mass media, the workplace and government. A peer group is a group of approximately the same age Social status, and interests The degree to which the norms of a particular society or community are adopted determines one's willingness to engage with others. The norms of tolerance, reciprocity and trust are important "habits of the heart," as de Tocqueville put it, in an individual's involvement in community. In Social psychology, reciprocity refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action and responding to a negative action with another negative one Trust is a relationship of reliance A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes Law and their previous promises ^[12]

Community development

Main article: Community development

Community development, often linked with Community Work or Community Planning, is often formally conducted by non-government organisations(NGOs), universities or government agencies to improve the social well-being of local, regional and, sometimes, national communities. The Azadi Tower ( Borj-e Azadi meaning in Freedom Tower (previously known as the Shahyād Āryāmehr, King Memorial Tower is the symbol of Tehran Public square and city square redirect here For Public Square Cleveland see Public Square and for City Square in Leeds see Leeds City Square. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Community development, informally called Community building, is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders activists involved Less formal efforts, called community building or community organizing, seek to empower individuals and groups of people by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities. Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of Community between Individuals within a regional area (such as a Neighbourhood Community organizing is a process by which people living in proximity to each other are brought together by an organizationto act in their common self-interest (at least as per the views ^[13] These skills often assist in building political power through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda. Community development practitioners must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities' positions within the context of larger social institutions.

Formal programs conducted by universities are often used to build a knowledge base to drive curricula in sociology and community studies. Community studies is an academic field drawing on both Sociology and Anthropology and the Social research methods of Ethnography The General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and the Saguaro Seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University are examples of national community development in the United States. The General Social Survey ( GSS) is a survey used to collect Data on Demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United The National Opinion Research Center (NORC established in 1941 is one of the largest and most highly respected Social research organizations in the United States The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. BetterTogetherCivic Engagement in America is both a book and website published as an initiative of the Saguaro Seminar conducted at Harvard University 's John F The John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (also known as Harvard Kennedy School and HKS) is a Public policy and The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In The United Kingdom, Oxford University has led in providing extensive research in the field through its Community Development Journal,^[14] used worldwide by sociologists and community development practitioners. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the

At the intersection between community development and community building are a number of programs and organizations with community development tools. One example of this is the program of the Asset Based Community Development Institute of Northwestern University. The institute makes available downloadable tools^[15] to assess community assets and make connections between non-profit groups and other organizations that can help in community building. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage The Institute focuses on helping communities develop by "mobilizing neighborhood assets" — building from the inside out rather than the outside in. ^[16]

Community building and organizing

M. Scott Peck is of the view that the almost accidental sense of community that exists at times of crisis can be consciously built. Morgan Scott Peck ( 22 May 1936 – 25 September 2005) was a US Psychiatrist and best-selling Author. Peck believes that the process of "conscious community building" is a process of building a shared story, and consensual decision making, built upon respect for all individuals and inclusivity of difference. He is of the belief that this process goes through four stages:

1. Pseudo-community: Where participants are "nice with each other", playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favourable sides of their personalities.
2. Chaos: When people move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their "shadow" selves. This stage places great demands upon the facilitator for greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that "organizations are not communities", and this pressure should be resisted.
3. Emptiness: This stage moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledging their own woundedness and brokenness, common to us all as human beings. Out of this emptiness comes
4. True community: the process of deep respect and true listening for the needs of the other people in this community. This stage Peck believes can only be described as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.

More recently Scott Peck remarked that building a sense of community is easy. It is maintaining this sense of community that is difficult in the modern world.

Community building can use a wide variety of practices, ranging from simple events such as potlucks and small book clubs to larger–scale efforts such as mass festivals and construction projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors. A potluck is a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group A book discussion club is a group of people who meet to discuss a book or books that they have read and express their opinions likes dislikes etc A festival is an event usually and ordinarily staged by a local community which centers on some unique aspect of that community In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure

Community currencies

Some communities have developed their own "Local Exchange Trading Systems" (LETS)^[17] and local currencies, such as the Ithaca Hours system,^[18] to encourage economic growth and an enhanced sense of community. Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS also known as LETSystems are local non-profit exchange networks in which goods and services can be traded without the need for printed In Economics, a local currency, in its common usage is a Currency not backed by a national government (and not necessarily Legal tender) and intended Ithaca Hours is a Local currency in Ithaca New York. It is credited as the first modern Local currency and has inspired similar systems throughout the Community Currencies have recently proven valuable in meeting the needs of people living in various South American nations, particularly Argentina, that recently suffered as a result of the collapse of the Argentinian national currency. ^[19]

Conversely, at least one community, The Los Angeles Skills Pool,^[20] is built around the sharing of services without the use of any currency.

Community building that is geared toward activism is usually termed "community organizing. An affinity group is usually a small group of left-wing political Activists (usually from 3-20 who work together on Direct action. Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change " In these cases, organized community groups seek accountability from elected officials and increased direct representation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faith negotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. A boycott is a form of Consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using buying or dealing with someone or some other organization as an expression of The ARISE Detroit! coalition and the Toronto Public Space Committee are examples of activist networks committed to shielding local communities from government and corporate domination and inordinate influence. ARISE Detroit! is a coalition of community groups in Detroit, banding together in the hopes of making a bigger impact than Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC is a Volunteer -run Non-profit organization located in Toronto Ontario, Canada that defends the city’s Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change

Community organizing is sometimes focused on more than just resolving specific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessible power structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equally throughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groups facilitate and encourage consensus decision-making with a focus on the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group. WikipediaConsensus here as this is the article namespace and that information is irrelevant to the reader

The three basic types of community organizing are grassroots organizing, coalition building, and faith-based community organizing (also called "institution-based community organizing," "broad-based community organizing" or "congregation-based community organizing"). For other meanings see Grass roots (disambiguation. A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a Political movement A coalition is an alliance among individuals during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own Self-interest. A faith-based community is a Community with members who all believe in the same religious Concepts or at least they did when it was founded ^[21]

Community service

Main article: Community service

Community service is usually performed in connection with a nonprofit organization, but it may also be undertaken under the auspices of government, one or more businesses, or by individuals. Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local Community. Community service refers to service that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local Community. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage It is typically unpaid and voluntary. A volunteer is someone who works for a community or for the benefit of environment primarily because they choose to do so However, it can be part of alternative sentencing approaches in a justice system and it can be required by educational institutions. In Law, a sentence forms the final act of a Judge -ruled process and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function The three major legal systems of the world today consist of civil law, Common law and Religious law.

Types of community

A number of ways to categorize types of community have been proposed; one such breakdown is:

1. Geographic communities: range from the local neighbourhood, suburb, village, town or city, region, nation or even the planet as a whole. A neighbourhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences) is a geographically localised Community within a larger City, Town or South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status These refer to communities of location.
2. Communities of culture: range from the local clique, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious, multicultural or pluralistic civilisation, or the global community cultures of today. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the Demographics of a specified Pluralism is in the general sense the acknowledgment of diversity A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones They may be included as communities of need or identity, such as disabled persons, or frail aged people. Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the Average life span of Human beings and thus the end of the human life cycle.
3. Community organizations: range from informal family or kinship networks, to more formal incorporated associations, political decision making structures, economic enterprises, or professional associations at a small, national or international scale. Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin through either biological cultural or historical descent Incorporation (abbreviated Inc in US and Canadian business names is the forming of a new Corporation (a corporation being a legal entity Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes ( cognitive process) leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Communities are nested; one community can contain another - for example a geographic community may contain a number of ethnic communities. ^[22]

Location

Possibly the most common usage of the word "community" indicates a large group living in close proximity. Examples of local community include:

• A municipality is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a town or village. Local community is a geographically defined Community of place, a group of people living close to each other A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. Although large cities are also municipalities, they are often thought of as a collection of communities, due to their diversity. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status
• A neighborhood is a geographically localized community, often within a larger city or suburb. A neighbourhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences) is a geographically localised Community within a larger City, Town or A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California.
• A planned community is one that was designed from scratch and grew up more or less following the plan. A new town, planned community or planned city is a City, Town, or Community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically Several of the world's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., in the United States, Canberra in Australia, and Brasília in Brazil. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Canberra ( is the capital city of Australia With a population of over 340000 it is Australia's largest inland City. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Brasília (bɾaˈziliɐ is the Capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country along a Plateau |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld It was also common during the European colonization of the Americas to build according to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlier Amerindian cities. The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492 although there was at least one earlier colonization effort For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States.

For more details on this topic, see Community of place. A Community of place or place-based community is a Community of people who are bound together because of where they reside work visit or otherwise spend

Identity

For more details on this topic, see Community of interest. COI, Community of Interest is a means by which network assets and or network users are segregated by some technological means for some established purpose

In some contexts, "community" indicates a group of people with a common identity other than location. Members often interact regularly. Common examples in everyday usage include:

• A "professional community" is a group of people with the same or related occupations. Some of those members may join a professional society, making a more defined and formalized group. A professional body or professional organization also known as a professional association or professional society is an organization usually Non-profit, that exists These are also sometimes known as communities of practice. "CoP" redirects here This article is about "Communities of Practice"
• A virtual community is a group of people primarily or initially communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically over the Internet, rather than in person. A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as Newsletters In Sociology, a group can be defined as two or more Humans that interact with one another accept expectations and obligations as members of the group and share a The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks These may be either communities of interest, practice or communion. To some a virtual community of practice is a misnomer as the original concept of a Community of practice (CoP was based around situated learning in a co-located (See below. ) Research interest is evolving in the motivations for contributing to online communities. A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as Newsletters

Overlaps

For more details on this topic, see Intentional community. An intentional community is a planned Residential community designed to have a much higher degree of Teamwork than other communities

Some communities share both location and other attributes. Members choose to live near each other because of one or more common interests.

• A retirement community is designated and at least usually designed for retirees and seniors –- often restricted to those over a certain age, such as 55. A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared It differs from a retirement home, which is a single building or small complex, by having a number of autonomous households. A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the Elderly.

• An intentional community is a deliberate residential community with a much higher degree of social interaction than other communities. An intentional community is a planned Residential community designed to have a much higher degree of Teamwork than other communities The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or spiritual vision and share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include Amish villages, ashrams, cohousing, communes, ecovillages, housing cooperatives, kibbutzim, and land trusts. The Amish (ˈɑːmɪʃ are members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination best known for Simple living, Plain dress and resisting modern conveniences An Ashram in ancient India was a Hindu hermitage where sages lived in Peace and tranquility amidst Nature. A cohousing Community is a kind of Intentional community composed of private Homes with full kitchens supplemented by extensive common facilities A commune is an Intentional community of people living together sharing common interests Property, possessions Resources, work and Income Ecovillages are intended to be socially economically and ecologically sustainable Intentional communities. A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a Corporation —that owns Real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in A land trust is an agreement whereby one party (the trustee agrees to hold ownership of a piece of real property for the benefit of another party (the beneficiary

Special nature of human community

Definitions of community as "organisms inhabiting a common environment and interacting with one another,"^[23] while scientifically accurate, do not convey the richness, diversity and complexity of human communities. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Central Park is a large public Urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens regardless of Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Age or Their classification, likewise is almost never precise. Untidy as it may be, community is vital for humans. M. Scott Peck expressed this in the following way: "There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community. Morgan Scott Peck ( 22 May 1936 – 25 September 2005) was a US Psychiatrist and best-selling Author. "^[24]

From this it is clear that the concept of the individual is not and cannot ever be separated from the concept of community. Without the primary community of our family, or the secondary communities discussed above, we could not develop stable personalities as individual human beings. This conveys some of the distinctiveness of human community.

See also

Main articles: List of basic community topics and List of community topics

• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
• Communitarianism
• Sense of community
• Sustainable community
• Communitas (Victor Turner's theories)
• Community art
• Community theatre
• Community radio
• Brand community
• Historian Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities
• Intentional community
• International community
• Economic network
• Nationalism and Internationalism
• Community informatics
• Otherness
• Original affluent society hunter-gatherer aspects of Marshall Sahlins (1966)
• Philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy's the Inoperative Community (1983)
• Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
• Tragedy of the commons and Tragedy of the anticommons

Notes

References

• Barzilai, G. 2003. Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Beck, U. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage

— 2000. What is globalization? Cambridge: Polity Press.

• Canuto, Marcello A. and Jason Yaeger, eds. (2000) The Archaeology of Communities. Routledge, New York.
• Chavis, D. M. , Hogge, J. H. , McMillan, D. W. , & Wandersman, A. 1986. "Sense of community through Brunswick's lens: A first look. " Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 24-40.
• Chipuer, H. M. , & Pretty, G. M. H. (1999). A review of the Sense of Community Index: Current uses, factor structure, reliability, and further development. Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 643-658.
• Christensen, K. , et al. (2003). Encyclopedia of Community. 4 volumes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Cohen, A. P. 1985. The Symbolic Construction of Community. Routledge: New York.
• Durkheim, Emile. Émile Durkheim ( April 15, 1858 – November 15, 1917) was a French Sociologist whose contributions were instrumental 1950 [1895] The Rules of Sociological Method. Translated by S. A. Solovay and J. H. Mueller. New York: The Free Press.
• Cox, F. , J. Erlich, J. Rothman, and J. Tropman. 1970. Strategies of Community Organization: A Book of Readings. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers.
• Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations Mesa Community College.
• Giddens, A. 1999. “Risk and Responsibility” Modern Law Review 62(1): 1-10.
• Lenski, G. 1974. Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc.
• Long, D. A. , & Perkins, D. D. (2003). Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sense of Community Index and Development of a Brief SCI. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 279-296.
• McMillan, D. W. , & Chavis, D. M. 1986. "Sense of community: A definition and theory. " American Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23.
• Nancy, Jean-Luc. Jean-Luc Nancy (born July 26, 1940) is a French philosopher. Nancy's first book published in 1973 was Le titre de la lettre La Communauté désœuvrée (philosophical questioning of the concept of community and the possibility of encountering a non-subjective concept of it). Not to be confused with the subiectum or Hypokeimenon in Aristotelianism
• Newman, D. 2005. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, Chapter 5. "Building Identity: Socialization" Pine Forge Press. Retrieved: 2006-08-05.
• Peck, M.S. 1987. Morgan Scott Peck ( 22 May 1936 – 25 September 2005) was a US Psychiatrist and best-selling Author. The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84858-9
• Perkins, D. D. , Florin, P. , Rich, R. C. , Wandersman, A. & Chavis, D. M. (1990). Participation and the social and physical environment of residential blocks: Crime and community context. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 83-115.
• Putnam, R. D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster
• Sarason, S.B. 1974. Seymour Sarason is Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Yale University, where he taught from 1945 to 1989 The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

— 1986. "Commentary: The emergence of a conceptual center. " Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 405-407.

• Smith, M. K. 2001. Community. Encyclopedia of informal education. Last updated: January 28, 2005. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved: 2006-07-15.
• Tönnies, F. 1887. Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, Leipzig: Fues's Verlag, 2nd ed. 1912, 8th edition, Leipzig: Buske, 1935; translated in 1957 as Community and Society. ISBN 0-88738-750-0

External links

• "Community", an article in American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia
• "Community", an article in Encyclopedia of Informal Education
• Subdivided A documentary film about community featuring Robert Putnam
• Community article
• Online Community Building: Three Critical Ingredients An article about building online communities

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic