Tonnies: The Early Definition Of Community

Every person deserves the right to experience a sense of community amongst people who share a common characteristic. A sense of fellowship amongst similar people allows a person to become more comfortable with who they are through interactions with others who are going through—or have gone through—the same triumphs or hardships. Without this feeling of belonging, one could be driven into insanity. Anxiety due to isolation and desolation could run rampant through a person’s mind because of the loneliness that comes with a lack of community—making it an essential part of a humanhood. By definition however, community invites inimitability. Community can be defined as a group of unique individuals with shared characteristics. From that a

In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started in Cleveland Ohio just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Seedfolks shows that having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance of a community is shown through the characters and shown by how they act, what they say, overall how they are perceived by other people.

What is a community? To many it is a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage. For many this is an abstract term. Many people don’t exactly know what a community is. It can be felt or touched and sure enough it can’t be seen. Society also plays a role in this relative and abstract term of community. Meaning, the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community. Amitai Etzioni in his article “The New Community” introduces and compares the ideas of two distinct types of social relations, “gemeinschaft” and “gesellschaft” and argues for the necessity of both to maintain the social foundations of morality. The

A community is a social group whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a cultural and historical heritage.. The book A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Is about a young black man named Jefferson in 1947 Louisiana who is used as a scapegoat for a local murder. He must face his upcoming execution and is helped by Grant Wiggins the local teacher and Reverend Ambrose the local clergyman. What makes a strong community is the practice of acceptance and responsibility. Gaines demonstrates this through Jefferson’s transformation , Grant’s support and Rev. Ambrose belief. Three characters in this story teach us about acceptance and responsibility. Jefferson has to keeps his head high and not beg for his life

A community is a place where people around supposed to be able to live and thrive together. When one thinks of a community, the image that most likely is visualized is one of a place where each person lives harmoniously with all the other members of that community. While this may be the typical image of a community, it is not the realistic view. In reality communities can share both good and bad aspects. In Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom make the argument that the place a person lives ultimately matters over all else; the place which a person lives effects the choices that that he/she makes and determines his/her ability to obtain a

We don’t value community since we don’t make decisions for the whole group we make them for ourselves only. In our jobs we only do what will lead us to a higher paying position, and if our position is in jeopardy we will do what ever it takes to keep it even if it means going against co-workers. This leads many people to ask the question “do I act selfishly or do I cooperate?” (Innes 2) The ways in which we raise our children has a significant affect on how they will act. If they put themselves before others constantly and think only of their own benefits, it can make them become a selfish person which will lead them to be seen as an outcast by our society. In “Behind Grandma’s House” Gary Soto shows us this when he tells us:

A community is a group of people who live in the same area, interact with each other, and share certain norms and values. A community is defined as a locality-based entity, composed of systems of formal organizations reflecting societal institutions, informal groups, and aggregates that are interdependent and whose function or expressed intent is to meet a wide variety of collective needs (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012).

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

In the 1800's, Ferdinand Tonnies, a leading German sociologist, developed the idea that social relationships fall into one of two categories: "community" and "society." These terms, however, are differentiated by Tonnies by whether or not they have

Throughout history we see a pattern that includes a boom in society alongside a boom in industry. As industry increases, many people move to cities, causing a lack of community and a greater sense of contribution to society as a whole. On the contrary, when we look at time periods with greater agricultural importance, there are many more close-knit family groups or small communities. This idea came into fruition after reading The New Community by Amitai Etzioni. This piece discusses the role of community and society, and how community is defined as unity and society is defined as diversity. On a basic level, we agreed with this statement. As industry booms, the role of the individual becomes less important, and the diverse skill set of a society becomes more important. In a community, there can be diversity, but all people involved need to have a strong commonality that bonds them. I agree more with an idea presented later in The New Community more. “What we need now are communities that balance both diversity and unity.”(Etzioni) This statement reflects our current society, which is extremely diverse. As a large populace, we need to find communities that will accept our diversity, while still sharing a

In “The Abundant Community,” both authors John McKnight and Peter Block discuss their ideas on “the citizen way” of life, and the downfalls of “the consumer way,” and how to avoid them. For instance, the authors believe in the goodness that is “the citizen way,” and that if we learned to trust in our neighbors we could build a strong community that can provide security. As well as, obtaining a better income by talking to people in one’s community about future employment. However, if we continue to depend on “the consumer way” we as a community will live an unsatisfied and disconnected life. We are so advanced in technology that we are able to obtain almost anything from the comfort of our own homes, which limits social interaction. Moreover,

Community, identity, and stability played a major and vital role in the Brave New World Society. It affected every aspect of the characters life and it list the Utopias main goals for the society. The World state used this motto to control the society in subliminal and manipulative techniques and the citizens had absolutely no regard to what the were instilling in them. Their attempts to cultivate each one of these attributes were actually successful in the dystopian society. Community is a result of stability and identity.

In the US and in most countries, communities are more than just houses, departments, grocery stores and shops. Communities are formed by its civilians to facilitate their way of life and to also be a team instead of just single individuals. These communities are formed by the people living in that area and the values they share. Kekes (1993) defines values as ‘humanly caused benefits that human beings provide to others…’. Kekes and kane also states that they espouse values such as empowerment and caring , not just because they lead towards good or better society but also because they have merit on their own (kane, 1994: Kekes, 1993) CP, p54.

In Charles Derber’s “The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach,” Derber refers to two very different communities. One is the Ik who lived in Uganda and were described as “unfortunate people expelled by an uncaring government.” The other, was an imaginary community from the Woody Allen movie Crimes and Misdemeanors. This community seemed to resemble a community from our present day upper class with only the best hotels, restaurants, and symphonic recordings. Although these two groups are very different, they each still follow the criterion of a community. Each are groups of people who have formed a sort of bond with each other because of a certain lifestyle, interests, or beliefs.

Based on this definition it is interesting to note that the Old Order Amish Mennoite community satisfies the requirements of place, interests and communion. Aside from being a perfect example of a community the Amish people exemplify what it means to be a part of a community that it is their source of identity, strength, and sustainability. Each individual exists for the community but as a whole the community nurtures each member and therefore it is unthinkable for an Amish man or woman to leave their community behind. On the other hand many Americans feel they must “get involved.” In public life as well as in private, we can discern the habits that sustain individualism and commitment as well as what makes them problematic. (Bellah, p.74)