The Concept of Community Today: A Cultural and Spatial Perspective
Journal title SOCIOLOGIA URBANA E RURALE
Author/s Marco Castrignanò, Gabriele Manella
Publishing Year 2011 Issue 2011/94
Language English Pages 28 P. 135-162 File size 423 KB
DOI 10.3280/SUR2011-094010
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This article stresses the heuristic power of the concept of community today, with particular attention to urban sociology. The authors distinguish between a cultural and a spatial meaning, focusing on the American debate through the concepts of community (cultural) and neighborhood (spatial). They look up these concepts in many Anglo-American encyclopedias; then, they consider the works of Barry Wellman and Robert Sampson. Wellman stresses the liberation of community from a place and the importance of mapping social ties and contacts. Sampson stresses the liberation of neighborhood from the logic of primary group relationships, so neighbor- hoods are seen as more ecological than affective units. So, the American debate seems to confirm that two notions of community are required: community is connected to individuals, networks and strong ties, neighborhood is connected to socio-spatial organization and "collective efficacy".
Keywords: Community, neighborhood, socio-spatial, socio-cultural, community liberated, collective efficacy
Marco Castrignanò, Gabriele Manella, The Concept of Community Today: A Cultural and Spatial Perspective in "SOCIOLOGIA URBANA E RURALE" 94/2011, pp 135-162, DOI: 10.3280/SUR2011-094010