Understanding Community Theory

The community is important to most all aspects of our lives. It is the first entity that we encounter beyond our families. And when we leave the family unit, the community begins to shape us, and through our engagement we shape it. It is a remarkable, powerful, and synergistic process that, when functioning, meets most of our individual needs and those of a flourishing local society. At its core, community can be seen as a group of people who share common interests, characteristics, or goals and interact with one another within a particular geographical area or even virtual space. Communities can vary widely in size, scope, and purpose. They can be based on factors such as location, culture, religion, profession, hobbies, or shared identities. Regardless of setting, community members support and rely on each other, fostering a sense of belonging, solidarity, and mutual assistance. In short, the impact of this social entity is massive. Nonetheless, despite the importance of this social entity, our understanding of community, the process by which it emerges, and the factors leading to its growth or loss are, at best, elusive. This is in part the result of a lack of clarity and consistent definition as to what constitutes community, community development, and community action. Perhaps to understand how we view community, we must understand where we have come from. Past theoretical perspectives, and therefore conceptualizations, of community tell a tale about how we today view this ever-important social construct. Over the past century we have vacillated between macro and micro perspectives. This trend continues today with many of us thinking that community is the result of wider societal, or even global, factors eventually trickling down to shape local life. Other groups of us view community as an organic process that happens locally, grows, shapes ideas, and percolates upward to shape the wider society. The latter has shaped much of the community theory literature for the second half of the 20th century to the present. To understand both perspectives, it is important to understand where we have been and what has brought us to this current stage of understanding. This chapter explores the theoretical and applied literature on community, addresses the societal changes that have altered the way we view this concept, and explores our more recent conceptualizations of this ever-changing entity.