Abstract
How to create in the 21st Century a sense of community that incorporates new technology, diversity and mobility while still maintaining an interpersonal sense of place that retains relatedness and support. In other words: How to recreate a sense of community (Gemeinschaft) in a Gesellschaft world? The German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies distinguished between gemeinschaft (community, which is more collective emphasizing interpersonal attraction based on common history and culture) and gesellschaft (society which is less personal, more contractual). That distinction and the reaction between the two is a critical political and sociological variable today. Due to the pressures of globalization, technology, particularly information technology, the community as a frame of reference is disappearing in Western society. Little has replaced it leading to increased feelings of alienation, anxiety, anomie. Can a sense of community reflecting Tonnies concept of gemeinschafts be resurrected in the 21st Century? This paper examines why recreating a sense of community is needed and important, how to do it and what is lost when a sense of community is absent? In a seminal 1986 study, McMillan and Chavis identify four elements of “sense of community”: 1. membership: feeling of belonging or of sharing a sense of personal relatedness, 2. influence: mattering, making a difference to a group and of the group mattering to its members 3. reinforcement: integration and fulfillment of needs, 4. shared emotional connection. These four elements are the deliberative and evaluative basis for the review of this important topic. .
Presenters
John RayProfessor, Liberal Studies/Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Montana Technological University, Montana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Community Diversity and Governance
KEYWORDS
COMMUNITY, PLACE, GEMEINSCHAFT, GESELLSCHAFT
