Product Description

Stimulating introduction to the concept of community, with an analysis of its origins in western utopian thought and as an imagined primitive state equated with traditional societies in classical sociology and anthropology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41173 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review

'Delanty displays a wide knowledge of the literature and a lively and innovative style of theorising which makes the book more original ... I have found Delanty's book to be a model of clarity and synthesis. I hope that this book reaches the wide readership it deserves, not just amongst students but also amongst those in politics and the media who help to mould the contemporary zeitgeist.' - Ray Pahl, Urban Studies

'An excellent read for all social work educators and social work students, especially those involved in policy practice and community level practice.' - Victor Manalo, The Social Policy Journal 

'George Delanty, Professor of Sociology at the University of Liverpool, provides not only a concise and well-written review of the major issues and debates in the social science literature regarding the conceptualization of the communitybut builds upon these debates for theorizing community today.'- Victor Manalo, The Social Policy Journal 

From the Back Cover
The increasing individualism of modern western society has been accompanied by an enduring nostalgia for the idea of community as a source of security and belonging in an increasingly insecure world and, in recent years, as an alternative to the state as a basis for politics.

Gerard Delanty begins this stimulating introduction to the concept with an analysis of the origins of the idea of community in western utopian thought and as an imagined primitive state equated with traditional societies in classical sociology and anthropology. He goes on to chart the resurgence of the idea within communitarian thought, the complications and critiques of multiculturalism and its new manifestations within a society where new modes of communication produce both fragmentation and the possibilities of new social bonds. Contemporary community, he argues, is essentially a communication community based on new kinds of belonging. No longer bounded by place, we are able to belong to multiple communities based on religion, nationalism, ethnicity, life-styles and gender.

Customer Reviews

communities of identity and place
Cerard Delanty's study of 'community' is thoughtful and intellectually challenging. It recognises the complexity of trying to understand such an amorphous concept while providing a clear analysis of many, but not all, aspects of its implications for an understanding of human society. While I agree with its basic argument that today it's meanings are more about communities of identity, I would still argue for an understanding of the importance of communities of place which may be imaginary or real.