Prelim Community Engagement, Solidarity and Citizenship
SESSION 2: IMPORTANCE OF decision making. It includes, but is not limited to,
UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY types of governments and management systems. It
DYNAMICS AND COMMUNITY ACTION also includes how people in small bands or
informal groups make decisions when they do not
[ Community ] have a recognized leader. Communities, including
There are various definitions of community the ones where you work, all have some political
depending on one’s lens or framework. By system, and some distance between the most and
knowing the various definitions with the use of lens least levels of power between individuals and
or framework, there will be a greater understanding groups. It is your first task to understand how it
of the typology of community action. works, how power and influence are distributed
Social science perspectives (not always the same way) and what changes are
Institutional perspectives occurring (Bartle, 2011).
Civil society
Local and grassroots level [ Local Grassroots Level ]
According to this perspective, community is an
[ Social Science Perspectives ] important buzzword these days. People recognize
Community – defined as well in the perspective of that social structures are deteriorating, and that
sociology. people want more of a sense of connection with
“Community is a construct model.” others.
We cannot see a whole community, we cannot Suburbia is almost perfectly designed to keep
touch it, and we can experience it. Like the words interaction to a minimum.
“hill” and “snowflake,” a community may come in
one of many shapes, sizes, colors and locations, no [ Social Structure Framework ]
two of which are alike. More importantly, a
community is not just the people who are in it. A
Society
community usually was already existing when all
of its current residents were not yet born, and it will
likely continue to exist when all of the people in it Social Statuses and
Social Groups
have left. It is something beyond its very Institutions Roles
components, its residents or community members. Social Institutions
A community may have members who have Traditional Emergent
temporarily moved to other locations. They may Family Sports
wish to eventually return, but not all do. A Religion Mass Media
“community” in some senses may not even have a Education Science/ Medicine
physical location, but be demarcated by being a Government Military
group of people with a common interest. Economy
Social Groups
[ Institutional Perspectives ] Primary Groups Secondary Groups
Community – it is composed of the ways people Family members Schools
act, interact between each other, react, and Close friends Churches
expect each other to act and interact. It includes Peers Corporations
such institutions as marriage or friendship, roles Statuses and Roles
such as mother or police officer, status or class, and Ascribed Status Achieved Status
other patterns of human behavior (Bartle, 2011). Race/ ethnicity Occupation
Age Education
A “mother-in-law,” for example, is both a role Gender Income Level
(with a status) and an institution. In a community, Class
the social organization of the community is the sum SESSION 3: CHARACTERISTICS OF
total of all those interrelationships and patterns. COMMUNITY
[ Civil Society ] 1. A group of people
Politically, the community is its various ways and it is the most fundamental or essential
means of allocating power, influence and characteristic or element of community
Prelim Community Engagement, Solidarity and Citizenship
may be small or large but community
always refers to a group of people 7. Wider Ends
Members of a community associate not for
2. Definite locality the fulfillment of a particular end but for a
it is the next important characteristic of a variety of ends. These are natural for a
community. Because community is a community;
territorial group. A group of people alone
can’t form a community. 8. Total organized social life
a group of people forms a community only a community is marked by total organized
when they reside in a definite territory social life. It means a community includes
the territory need not be fixed forever all aspects of social life. Hence a
majority community are settled, and a community is a society in miniature;
strong bond of unity and solidarity is
derived from their living in a definite 9. Particular Name
locality Every community has a particular name
by which it is known to the world.
3. Community Sentiment Members of a community are also
refers to a strong sense of awe feeling identified by that name.
among the members or a feeling of
belonging together 10. No legal status
it refers to a sentiment of common living a community has no legal status because it
that exists among the members of a is not a legal person.
locality. Because of common living within It has no rights and duties in the eyes of
an area for a long time a sentiment of law. It is not created by the law of the
common living is created among the land.
members of that area. With this the
members emotionally identify themselves. 11. Size of community
a community is classified on the basis of
4. Naturality its size. It may be big or small.
communities are naturally organized Village is an example of a small
it is neither a product of human will nor community whereas a nation or even the
have created by an act of government. It world is an example of a big community.
grows spontaneously.
individuals became the member by birth. 12. Concrete nature
it refers to a group of people living in a
5. Permanence particular locality where we can see its
it refers to a permanent living of existence. Hence it is concrete;
individuals within a definite territory
A community exists within society and possesses
It is not temporary like that of a crowd or distinguishable structure which distinguishes it
association; from others.
6. Similarity
As they live within a definite locality they
lead a common life and share some
common ends.
Among the members similarity in
language, culture, customs, and traditions
and in many other things is observed.
Similarities in these respects are
responsible for the development of
community sentiment
