Community

As an object of study

Community, the human community: World community, the global aspects of

community from the perspective of governance and the humanities

International community, the global aspects of community from the perspective of governance and the humanities

Global village, the global aspects of community from the perspective of telecommunications

Community as a social ideal

Response to individualism, atomisation and alienation of moderns industrial society

The golden age… Recall a time of community from

your childhood What was key and how does it differ

from today?

Tonnies

Gemeinschaft — often translated as community (or left untranslated)— refers to groupings based on feelings of togetherness and on mutual bonds, which are felt as a goal to be kept up, their members being means for this goal..

Gesellschaft — often translated as society — on the other hand, refers to groups that are sustained by it being instrumental for their members' individual aims and goals.

Gemeinschaft may by exemplified historically by a family or a neighborhood in a pre-modern (rural) society;

Gesellschaft by a joint-stock company or a state in a modern society, i.e. the society when Tönnies lived.

Gesellschaft relationships arose in an urban and capitalist setting, characterized by individualism and impersonal monetary connections between people. Social ties were often instrumental and superficial, with selfinterest and exploitation increasingly the norm.

Ideational or abstract community types

Business community, the total body of business people its relationships and interactions

Religious community, the total body of religious people its relationships and interactions

Scientific community, the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions

Epistemic community, those who accept one version of a story

Discourse Community, used in linguistics to describe the users of a particular style of language

Moral community, a group of people drawn together by a common interest in living according to a particular moral philosophy

Voluntary association, a group of individuals who voluntarily enter into an agreement to accomplish a purpose

Cooperative, a group of persons who join together (co-operate) to carry on an economic activity of mutual benefit

European Community, founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome

Community council, tier of local government in Wales and Scotland

Autonomous communities of Spain, Spain's fifty provinces are grouped into seventeen autonomous communities

Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium Local community, a town, city, neighborhood, rural area, or any

locale and everyone in it Unincorporated community, a geographic area having a common

social identity Residential community, a community, usually a small town or city,

that is composed mostly of residents Intentional Community, a planned residential community, usually

of people that share personal and cultural values. Cohousing communities, a type of intentional community composed of private homes

centered around a common house and other common facilities. Ecovillage, a type of intentional community formed with social, economic, and ecological

sustainability as its goal. Commune (intentional community), a type of intentional community where most

resources are shared and there is little or no personal property (as opposed to communities that only share housing)

Monastery, a community of usually monks practicing a religious discipline Convent, a community of clergy particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and, to a lesser

degree, in the Anglican Church

Community of...

Action, a group of people organized to support a cause or bring about social change

Circumstance, a group of people bound together because of circumstances usually beyond their control

Interest, a group of people who share a common interest or passion

Place, a group of people bound together because of where they spend a continuous portion of their time

Position, a group of people who share a particular station in life (such as teenage years, marriage, parenthood, etc.)

Practice, a group of people who choose to collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.

Purpose, a group of people who are going through the same process or are trying to achieve a similar objective

Other types

Affinity group, is a small group of activists (usually from 3-20) who work together on direct action

Intentional community, a planned residential community with a much higher degree of social interaction than other communities

Learning community, a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education covering distinct fields of study

Virtual community, Web community

Cooperatives:

Housing cooperative, a legal entity that owns real estate, usually one or more residential buildings

Retailers' cooperative, a network of retailers which employs economies of scale to get discounts from manufacturers and to pool marketing

Consumers' cooperative, a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale to get discounts from distributors

Utility cooperative, a public utility such as electric, water or telecommunications owned by its members

Worker cooperative, a type of business entity owned in part or exclusively by its workers

Community development

refers to efforts to improve communities: Community organizing, a process by which people

are brought together to act in common self-interest

Community building often refers to the more informal (or intangible) aspects of community development

Community economic development refers to efforts to improve the material aspects of local communities

Community practice, a type of social work practice that focuses on community level interventions

Community service, service (voluntary or compulsory) that a person performs for the benefit of his or her local community

Community concepts, movements and schools of thought

Sense of community, a look from the psychological perspective at how and why communities form and why people join them

Scientific Community Metaphor, an approach in computer science to understanding and performing scientific communities

Community politics, a movement in British politics to re-engage people with political action on a local level

Imagined communities, a concept that nations are socially constructed by the imaginations of people

Collectivist and Individualist cultures, a look at the differences between collectivism and individualism

Internationalism (politics), a political movement which advocates cooperation between nations for the benefit of all

World Brotherhood Colonies, an idea for spiritual-based communities begun by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1932

Academic subjects Community studies, an academic discipine, drawing on sociology and anthropology

with emphasis on ethnography (participant observation) Community practice social work, a branch of the applied field of social work, which

focuses on community level interventions, such as community organizing, community development, policy advocacy and policy analysis.

Community psychology, the use of the principles of psychology to understand how communities work (or fail to work)

Computational sociology, a recently developed branch of sociology that uses computation to analyze social phenomena

Cultural anthropology, a field of anthropology comprising the holistic study of humanity

Internet studies, an emerging field of academia dealing with the interaction between the Internet and modern society

Organizational Development, a branch of Sociology that deals with how and why people organize themselves

Philosophy of social science, the scholarly elucidation and debate of accounts of the nature of the social sciences

Rural sociology, a field of sociology associated with the study of life in small towns and the country.

Social geography, how society affects geographical features and how environmental factors affect society.

Social philosophy, the philosophical study of interesting questions about social behavior (typically, of humans).

Social sciences, groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world using scientific methods

Sociocultural evolution, theories of cultural evolution and social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have developed over time

Urban planning, the discipline which deals with the development of metropolitan areas, municipalities and neighbourhoods

Concepts and principles

Communitarianism, a group of related but distinct philosophies advocating phenomena such as civil society

Consensus decision-making, inclusive decision-making processes that accommodate even the minority

Meritocracy, a form of government based on rule by ability (merit) rather than by wealth or other determinants of social position.

Interpersonal relationship, a connection, affiliation or association between two or more people

Social capital, a concept with a variety of inter-related definitions, based on the economic value of social networks

Communitas, a Latin noun for the spirit of community having significance in cultural anthropology and the social sciences.

Community television, television stations that are owned and operated by communities rather than governments or corporations

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, terms introduced by German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies to distinguish community from society

Group dynamics, the field of study within the social sciences that focuses on the nature of groups

Small-group communication, communication in a context that mixes interpersonal communication interactions with social clustering

Socialization, the process by which people learn to adopt the behavior patterns of the community in which they live

Collectivism, a school of thought, antithetical to Individualism, in which the collective takes precedence over the individual

Organizational learning, an area of knowledge that looks at how an organization learns and adapts

Terms

Affinity (sociology), in terms of sociology, refers to "kinship of spirit", interest and other interpersonal commonalities

Cenobitic, a monastic tradition that stresses community life as opposed to eremitic—like a hermit.

Collective, a group of people who share common interests, working together to achieve a common objective

Consanguinity, the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person

Emergence, complex pattern formation from simpler rules Group (sociology), a collection of people who share characteristics,

interact and have a common identity Liminality, a period of transition related to initiation, rite of passage or

other entry into a group Meeting, two or more people coming together to have discussions or

produce a predetermined output, often in a formalized way Organization, a formal group of people with one or more shared goals Plenary session, the part of a meeting when all members of all parties

are in attendance Solidarity (sociology), the feeling or condition of unity based on

common goals, interests, and sympathies among a group's members

SO? What’s wrong with community?

Poverty……

Underlying causes

1) Inequality in wages and earnings growthWages and earnings in some jobs have grown much faster than

others. Workers in industries such as business services, the financial sector and ICT are enjoying fast growth, high profits and above-average increases in pay.

In contrast many public sector service jobs have seen a decline in relative pay levels.

Real earnings growth is fastest for those workers with high-level skills whose jobs are in demand. The situation is worse for workers in traditional manufacturing where employment has declined and real wages have fallen behind other jobs. The worst paid jobs are still found in low-skill service sector industries - often where there is little trade union protection.

2) Fuel Price increasesHome heating, including hot water. Petrol / diesel for cars. Massively

increased in recent years due to global natural resource depletion.

3) Higher levels of Unemployment Unemployment is a key cause of poverty. Twice in the last twenty

years we have seen mass unemployment (recessions) in Britain and a large rise in relative poverty - the two trends are connected.

4) The Current Global Recession The recent global “credit crunch” has led to a worsening of UK

unemployment (particularly in areas of already low skills and high unemployment

5) Increase in Asylum Seeker immigrants into UK Due predominantly to language barrier problems (English as a

Second Language) many new asylum seekers struggle to find employment and become impoverished

6) A high (growing) rate of Lone Parenthood Children are increasingly expensive. Also due to the need to care

for young children a single parent will struggle to find the necessary time to fulfil a full time job

7) Falling relative incomes of those dependent on State BenefitsState welfare benefits tend to rise in line with prices (index linked) rather than in line with the growth of earnings of those in work. Therefore, households dependent on welfare assistance see their relative incomes fall over time. The problem of pensioner poverty is particularly acute for those totally dependent on the basic state pension.Several pressure groups including Age Concern are lobbying for a restoration of the link between average earnings of people in work and the basic state retirement pension. The Labour Government has not as yet acceded to their demands – the financial cost of doing so is potentially huge.

8) The growing unskilled “underclass”Products of the social “Poverty Cycle” where aspirations are low within a community, or family, and over-reliance on state benefits is commonplace. Poor educational standards in the area lead to poor qualifications which limit job opportunities.

The Poverty Cycle (or Trap)

The poverty trap affects people on low incomes. It creates adisincentive to look for work or work longer hours because ofthe effects of the tax and benefits system. For example, a worker might be given the opportunity to earn an extra £50 a week by working ten additional hours. This boost to his/her gross income is reduced by an increase in income tax and national insurance contributions. The individual may also lose some income-related state benefits. The combined effects of this might be to take away over 70% of a rise in income, leaving little in the way of extra net or disposable income.Most UK residents caught in the trap are born into familieswith low aspirations and live in regions of social & economicdeprivation where there are few opportunities.

Benefits trap

Where those on the poverty line may not benefit from getting paid work – they might be better off staying on benefits!

e.g. Family, three children, without work, income = £120 in benefits of various sorts.

One parent gets a job earning £140 but after tax and national insurance has a take home pay of £110!

Families caught in new benefits trap

"A job would have to pay £17,000 or £18,000 a year for me to be as well off as I am doing 16 hours a week on WFTC. That's the poverty trap, but it comes in at that next stage up," she says.

But it is no less binding for that, says Ms Creffield: "If you earn £100 they will give you £200, if you earn £200 they will give you £50. Whether you earn £6 or £16 an hour, you get the same amount of money. There is no point in doing more."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/aug/03/statebenefits.jobsandmoney1

Relative poverty

Relative poverty is calculated as 60% of median income after housing costs.

This is a measure of poverty used by most researchers, the EU and the UK government. In 2006, the 60% threshold was worth:

£108 per week for single adult with no dependent children;

£186 per week for a couple with no dependent children;

£223 per week for a single adult with two dependent children;

£301 per week for a couple with two dependent children.

But it’s not just about cash, is it?

Social change

1. Inter- generational and inter-racial tensions

2. The growth in new and emerging communities

3. Isolation and differing patterns of growth between different communities

4. Perceptions of racism and the experience of disadvantage

Different worlds, next door

Gripped by poverty and unemployment, pushed into segregated, failing schools and fearful of a police force they see as hostile, many Asians live in the same cities as their white counterparts, but inhabit very different worlds … Now a new generation is pushing through, throwing off the more subservient attitudes of their elders and demanding radical change.

(The Observer July 15 2001)

Super-diversity

“An urban borough such as Haringey now has residents from over 120 countries of origin. Super-diversity is also about different immigration routes, legal statuses and demographic breakdowns and settlement in parts of England which have never experienced immigration before. There are also different motivations and expectations of staying for different lengths of time.

(Our Shared Future, 2007)

Those who can’t get work (Moving on up? The way forward. March 2007. EOC).

Those who are treated unfairly(DRE Count me in Census, 2006 & 2007)

Those who feel rejected

(Bagley and Tremblay 1997)

Those who are entering the criminal justice system for the first time(Source: Prison Service statistics, 2004)

Those who feel let down by the society they have helped to build(The UK Study of the Abuse and Neglect of Older People 2007)

Exclusion

People with mental health problems

• 50% more likely to suffer ill health(Arora et al, 2000; Erens et al, 2001)

• 36% unemployment – rising to 90% in some areas(CIC, 2007)

• More likely to be poor and living in overcrowded accommodation (Jones, 1996)

• Vulnerable to homelessness

(RAPP, 1996; Chahal, 2000)•

• More likely to be a victim of serious crime (CIC, 2007)

Is it the mental health or the poverty?

Rowntree Poverty and Social Exclusion report

1 in 5 people rarely have friends around for a meal, snack or drink

1 in 20 have been disconnected from basic utilities (electricity etc)

1 in 20 have no friend to whom they speak to weekly

Why the UK?

We are an MEDC, a key G8 member, a lead state of the EU.

We have a free NHS, we’re hosting the 2012 Olympics, mobile phone ownership is the highest in Europe.

We are Great Britain aren’t we??? And yet 1 in 5 residents exist below

the Poverty Line! WHY?In twos and threes, draw a spider diagram to show

how poverty is still significant in the UK

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and

well-being of him/(her)self and his/(her) family, including food,

clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services... Everyone

has the right to education.”

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELPTHIS RULE HAPPEN?

Any ideas or solutions???How do we go about these solutions?