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Contemporary Conceptions of Community

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Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

The quest for community is a continuing concern in social life and the question of community an enduring enigma in social theory. In both social life and social theory the idea of community has changed and varied over time and space as much as the reality of communities themselves. In this chapter I discuss varying contemporary ideas of community by focusing on the local community as a unit of analysis. [In short, I am following the model of the anthropologist (1955) in The Little Community in contrast to other uses of the concept such as the idea of a “national community” as developed by (1991) in his influential book Imagined Communities that traces the rise of modern nationalism.]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University, Gaithersburg

    Albert Hunter

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  1. Albert Hunter
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Ram A. Cnaan

  2. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA

    Carl Milofsky

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Hunter, A. (2008). Contemporary Conceptions of Community. In: Cnaan, R.A., Milofsky, C. (eds) Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32933-8_2

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