Community and Culture

1. Community and Culture

2. Definitions of Community • geographical or physical boundaries • boundaries that define a group • categories of people • characteristics of members • a unifying entity of common purpose • social identity e.g. ethnic, gay • religious affiliation • urban/rural – household/village/town/city • work-place • community of interest e.g. pressure groups, sports clubs, drama or art societies • virtual community – Internet and cyberspace • community of nations – European Community

3. Images of Community • Tonnies writing at the end of the 19th century gave two distinct versions of community – Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (association). • Gemeinschaft – a close contact/interaction between people over a long period of time. A community of people with linked personal roles - social cohesion between people. E.g. a village before the Industrial Revolution. • Gesellschaft – contact with a greater amount of people but less close contact and interaction. A community of interest with less personal roles. E.g. urban society. • Marx believed that the traditional community belonged to an earlier period of economic development that was lost forever to capitalism. • Weber saw Gemeinschaft as a “communal” sense of belonging or solidarity, and Gesellschaft as an “association” of shared values and goals. • Durkheim describes the dichotomy between traditional and modern society. He believed that industrialisation brought a sense of shared community. • Cohen wrote that communities are socially constructed and should not be looked upon as “natural” – i.e. not a geographical unit.

4. Communities and locality • In previous times community and place were intimately linked. Lack of mobility meant that people had little choice but to find their community in the places in which they lived and worked. • The improvement in transport and communication has led to great change in local communities. Inward migration has often led to privatism and the loss of community. • Unemployment has frequently led to younger people being unable or unwilling to remain in traditional local communities. • The ability to speak a minority language, such as Welsh, or the pronunciation of language, often defines the boundaries of regional or local communities. • The use of minority languages is often vital to community identity and the preservation of culture. • There is evidence that neighbourhood and kinship based helping and communal support networks remain strong in a particular localities.

5. Communities and nationality • Globalisation has led to an enhancement of the nation state – people seek to maintain their (communal) identities and culture. (Giddens) • Globalisation has led to the decline of nation state – people are less divided over nationality, immigration and transfer of culture. (Hirst & Thompson) • Symbols such as national flags and anthems are intricately linked to national cultures and communities. • Devolution in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland has seemingly broken the “British community”. This could lead to a greater fostering of individual national communities. However, within each of the countries there is no homogenous culture and spirit of community. • A sense of national community can be seen in times of trouble or sorrow. The Blitz united the people of London and the country; the national mourning at the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 united millions of people in the country as a community in grief

6. Global communities • Globalisation is.. “the emergence of a global economic and cultural system which, allegedly, is incorporating the people of the world into a single global society”. (Cochrane and Pain, 2000) • The developments in mass media enable people to encounter and consume new ideas and experiences from a wide range of cross-cultural sources. • Transnational corporations (TNCs), in order to maximise profits, influence taste and consumption patterns throughout the world – sometimes in negative ways. TNCs can influence national governments and communities through employment patterns. By searching for the cheapest and most effective production locations, TNCs can keep wages relatively low. • The globalisation of culture and cultural goods has led to hybrid styles in fashion, music, consumption and lifestyle. McDonaldisation, Hollywoodisation and Disneyfication have disseminated Western forms of culture which may destroy local cultures. • However, culture can flow both ways and Western culture can also be influenced by other world cultures. Also, people are not all consumer addicts – they simply have a wider range of choices. Because people drink Coke and eat McDonalds or wear brand name clothes, does not necessarily mean the death of local cultures and communities.

7. Class and community • Social class is usually defined by a persons occupation, so to speak of class communities is misleading. People tend to socialise with others of similar standing in society, so the boundaries of class probably have more to do with family, education, consumer patterns, lifestyle, culture and values. • Increased wealth and standard of living has also blurred the divisions of the class structure. Modern society has led to greater individualism and privatism, where the community is less important. • People can be grouped into a growing range of categories according to ethnicity, gender, place of residence, religion and patterns of consumption. However, capitalism, spending power and consumer power has much to do with whichever community individuals experience. • Rich and educated people can move to a better neighbourhood and associate with whichever network of people or communities they chose. Community is chosen not given. • Poor, less educated people are less mobile and are often condemned to remain in the communities where they happen to be. Community is given not chosen.

8. Ethnicity and community • Erosion of community life and culture have been highlighted by politicians.Enoch Powell in 1968 and Margaret Thatcher in her 1978 “swamping” speech. • Immigration can lead to social boundaries being formed and conflicts can arise over loss of culture and resources such as housing and employment. • Minorities are often regarded as separate communities with their own distinctive culture. • Skin colour or other physical features, dress and even diet can define the boundaries of a group or community • However, discrimination/racism can often strengthen community relationships and traditional communities can be formed amongst minorities. • Communities can be formed or defined in a number of ways:- opposition to racism, nationality, religion, language. • There is growing evidence, in a multicultural society, of a fragmentation of ethnic groups according to class, political and religious tradition, employment/unemployment and locality.

9. Community – gender and sexuality • The traditional role of women in the community is viewed by feminists as anachronistic in the UK today. Many prefer the term sisterhood or collective – possibly because community has connotations with the family and the role of housewife, mother and carer. • Formal and informal organisations for women exist, such as the W.I. and fund-raising but are these communities or networks of interest? • Does care in the community mean care by women, or what is expected of women? • The women protesters at Greenham Common, and women support groups during the miner’s strike, constructed a form of community that developed great levels of solidarity and shared values. • The gay and lesbian movement have openly embraced the notion of community in its demand for identity and equality. In urban areas, neighbourhoods have become “segregated” for gay residents. However, the attendance of heterosexuals at gay clubs, and heterosexual support for gay rights, make it difficult to define the boundaries of this community.

10. Loss of community • Recent sociological studies in urban areas have highlighted a romantic nostalgia for a golden age of communities. It is commonplace today to hear that… everyone helped each other, there was very little crime and people could leave their front doors unlocked! • There is conflicting evidence from community studies. Janowitz found that neighbourhood interaction and solidarity was limited. However, Gans found that kinship helping and support networks remained strong in certain communities. Castells has written that “people do not build their meaning in local societies..because they select their relationships on the basis of their affinities”. Perhaps it is fairer to say that community networks have diminished but that people are far from being isolated. • There is, however, a growing indication that communities are fragmenting. The notion of pick and mix culture is easily understood and can obviously be applied to the issue of multiple, overlapping and flexible identities and community attachments (Lyon 1994) • Postmodern societies are characterised by privatism and individual choice. Therefore it is probably true to say that communities of identity and special interest are more likely to flourish than traditional neighbourhood communities.

11. Online and non-geographical communities • “New communities are being built today. You cannot see them, except on a computer screen. You cannot visit them, except through your keyboard. Their highways are wires and optical fibres; their language a series of ones and zeros.” Mitch Kapor (1994) • Many people because of poverty will never be able to participate in these new communities. • Locality and nationality are no longer important within these new communities. It is who the individual shares common interests with, rather than common space. • The Internet can enable those who are normally barred from community networks being able to inter-relate and communicate in a virtual community of like-minded individuals or groups. • Wellman (1999) argues that the internet allows the development of communities of interest which are uniquely built on specialized relationships. • Social control is one universal feature of terrestrial communities. The current invisibility of participants and near anonymity of online networks makes social control a problem area in virtual communities,