Community

What is a Community?

A community is a "Social Group" sharing an environment, normally with shared interests.

The word "COMMUINTY" is derived from the Latin "COMMUNITAS" (meaning the same), which is in turn derived from "COMMUNIS", which means "COMMON", public, shared by all or many."

HUMAN COMMUNITIES

In "Human" (male/female) communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Human beings, like many other species, are essentially social beings, and naturally form communities which often develop into more structured societies.

Human beings have the desire and need to be in close contact with others. Beginning with the family, human life is one of interdependence and sharing of physical, mental, and spiritual elements.

Community can take many forms, from the intimacy of the family in the home, to the wide-ranging international community of multinational corporations, and to the virtual world of the internet. Each satisfies the need to interact with others in different ways, providing support to each individual in achieving their goals, and satisfying their desire to share with others.

As people develop wider communities, with increasing diversity, throughout the world, a global community of peace and prosperity for all progresses closer to reality.

Types of Human Communities

A number of ways to categorize the "Types of Human Communities":

Geographic Communities: Range from the local neighborhood, suburb, village, town or city, region, nation, or even the planet as a whole. These refer to communities of Location.
Communities Of Culture: Range from the local clique, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious, multicultural, or pluralistic civilization, or the global community cultures of today. They may be included as communities of need or identity, such as disabled persons or elderly people.
Community Organizations: Range from informal family or kinship networks, to more formal incorporated associations, political decision making structures, economic enterprises, or professional associations at a small, national, or international scale.

Communities are Nested

One community can intertwine with another community—for example, a geographic (Location) community may contain a number of ethnic (Culture) communities that can also combine your growth in life.

Here is an example of what I mean:

Dr. Carlos N. Moore grew-up in 33610 zip code area but attended schools in neighboring zip codes areas. For example, he attended Egypt lake Elementary School in 33614, Brian Middle School in 33610, Sligh Junior High School in 33610, Greco Middle School in 33617, and Tampa Bay Tech High School in 33610. As you can see, my community was "Nested" between adjoining zip code areas. My friends and next door neighbors attended different zip code areas schools but we attended the same Church and played on the same football and basket teams. My point is that Geographical boundary lines cannot defined who you are or where and har far you can travel n life.

What Do We Call A Community Today?

Possibly the most common usage of the word "Community" indicates a large group living in close proximity. Examples of local community include:

A Municipality: This is an administrative local area (Tampa Florida) generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a town or village or heights. Although large cities are also municipalities, they are often thought of as a collection of communities, due to their diversity.
A Neighborhood: This is a geographically localized community, (Belmont Heights located in Tampa Florida) often within a larger city or suburb.
A Planned Community: This is one that was designed from scratch and grew up more or less following the plan. Several of the world's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., in the United States, Canberra in Australia, and Brasília in Brazil. It was also common during the European colonization of the Americas to build according to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlier Amerindian cities. In Tampa Florida, you will notice that we have a lot of street names associated with Native Americans.

Community Identity

In some contexts, "Community" indicates a group of people with a common identity other than location. Members often interact regularly. Some examples are over 55 communities, retired veteran communities, etc.

A common example is a "Professional Community" is a group of people with the same or related occupations. Some of these members may join a professional society, making a more defined and formalized group. These are also sometimes known as “Communities Of Practice”. Dr. Carlos N. Moore lived in such communities while he serve on active duty. This is known as "Base Housing." Everyone who lived there knew the common military language as well as "Common Resident's Expectations."

Community Overlaps

Some “Communities” share both location and other attributes. Members choose to live near each other because of one or more common interests. For example:

A “Retirement Community” is designated and at least usually designed for retirees and seniors—often restricted to those over a certain age, such as 55. It differs from a “Retirement Home”, which is a single building or small complex, by having a number of autonomous households.
An “Intentional Community” is a deliberate residential community with a much higher degree of social interaction than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or spiritual vision and share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include Amish villages, ashrams, cohousing, communes, ecovillages, housing cooperatives, kibbutzim, and land trusts and military base housing. There must be caution applied when establishing a community like this because "Discrimination" can easily crepe in either by intentional or unintentional efforts on the part of the designer. There are housing regulations in place to prevent this from happening but it is still happening today.

Virtual Community (Computer Users)

A “Virtual Community” is a group of people primarily or initially communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically over the Internet, rather than in person. These may be either communities of interest, practice, or communion.

Two traits are particular to virtual communities:

Deception
Anonymity

Deception

Because users rarely meet face to face, people are free to adopt personas online that do not accurately represent their real life (for instance, someone may claim to be a millionaire while they actually live in a low-income community). Social media has spawned an increase in the deception and now we can see senior citizens becoming the victims of these deceptions.

Anonymity

Along the same lines, anonymity gives users license to express themselves differently than they would in real life. Members of virtual communities often release their inhibitions and post harsh comments, overtly sexual material, or other such things out of line with their "real life" personality.

Virtual communities are often criticized as being anti-social and a negative stereotype has developed of those perceived the spend too much time online. Despite this common perception, the internet can in fact have positive effects on one's social capital (followers). The internet makes it possible to develop communities among those with parochial or obscure interests, where this would be impossible before due to the distance between participants. These may not be physical communities, but members of virtual communities certainly feel the same range of emotions for their fellow community members as do members of physically proximate communities. Some example are Face Book, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

Types of Non-Human Communities

A “Local Community” could learn a lot from the animal kingdom. Let’s look at how these “Non-Human” species live and behave in their communities.

Many non-human species live in communities as well. These range from insects up through large mammals, such as whales. The structure of these communities varies, as does the level of cohesion. Some examples of non-human communities include ant colonies, beehives, wolf packs, schools of fish, and pods of dolphins.

Bees and Ants, for example, have strictly regimented roles within their societies.
Wolves, too, function as social predators and hunt in packs organized according to strict, rank-oriented social hierarchies. It was originally believed that this comparatively high level of social organization was related to hunting success, and while this may be true to a certain extent, emerging theories suggest that the pack has less to do with hunting and more to do with reproductive success.
Some Big Cats, such as tigers and leopards, tend to be solitary animals, eschewing community for solitary hunting.
Lions, travel in packs with a clear leadership hierarchy.

Perspectives From Various Disciplines

SOCIALIZATION

The process of learning to adopt the behavior patterns of the community is called "Socialization." The most fertile time of socialization is usually the early stages of life, during which individuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the roles necessary to function within their culture and social environment. For some psychologists, especially those in the psychodynamic tradition, the most important period of socialization is between the ages of one and ten years of age. But socialization also includes adults moving into a significantly different environment, where they must learn a new set of behaviors. Let’s look at this word “Culture”:

Culture - Of The Community

Culture is a complex of features held by a social group, which may be as small as a family or a tribe, or as large as a racial or ethnic group, a nation, or in the age of globalization, by people all over the world.

Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.

The elements of culture are first adopted by members of the social group, found to be useful, and then transmitted or propagated to others. In this way, culture is both defined by the social activities of the group and also defines the behavior of the members of the society.

Culture, however, is not fixed or static; rather, it involves a dynamic process as people respond to changing conditions and challenges.

33610, 33612, and 33617, has many “Cultures” that make-up its “Community” and therefore, one size does not fit the entire community. These zip codes have Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims, and Military Veterans, etc.

A “Strategic Process” designed by Dr. Carlos N. Moore should be implemented to accommodate the different “Cultures” whereby all members in the community may feel as part of the “Process Improvement” or “Re-Development” process. Unfortunately, current programs are not designed to benefit these varying “Cultures”.

Psychology - Of The Community

Psychology-Of The Community - is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior and is concerned about the interaction between individuals within communities. Those factors that motivate individuals into forming community, what incentives they have as members of a community, how it affects their identity and sense of self, are all important subjects touched upon by psychologists. Psychologists also study why community is necessary to people. Human beings are social animals, and while study of the resulting society may also be of interest to other social scientists such as sociologists and economists, the initial need to socialize with other humans is a psychological one.

Sociology - Of The Community

German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies presented a concise differentiation between the terms "community" (Gemeinschaft) and "society" (Gesellschaft). In his 1887 work, Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, Tönnies argued that "Community" is perceived to be a tighter and more cohesive social entity within the context of the larger society, due to the presence of a "Unity Of Will." He added that family and kinship were the perfect expressions of community, but that other shared characteristics, such as place or belief, could also result in gemeinschaft.

Individual And Community

During human growth and maturation, people encounter sets of other individuals and experiences. Infants encounter first their immediate family, then extended family, and then local community (such as school and work). They thus develop individual and group identity through associations that connect them to life-long community experiences.

As people grow, they learn about and form perceptions of social structures. During this progression, they form personal and cultural values, a world view and attitudes toward the larger society. Gaining an understanding of group dynamics and how to "Fit In" is part of socialization. Individuals develop “Interpersonal Relationships” and begin to make choices about whom to associate with and under what circumstances.

During adolescence and adulthood, the individual tends to develop a more sophisticated identity, often taking on a role as a leader or follower in groups. If an individual develops the feeling that they belong to a group, and they must help the group they are part of, then they develop a sense of community.

A Community Social Capital

If community exists, both freedom and security exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as “Social Capital”.

“Social Capital” is defined by Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)." Robert David Putnam is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics.

"Social Capital" in action can be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbors keeping an eye on each other’s homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capital has been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past 25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, family dinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45 percent.

Western cultures are thus said to be losing the “Spirit Of Community” that once were found in institutions including churches and community centers. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg states in "The Great Good Place" that people need three places:

The home
The office
The community hangout or gathering place

With this philosophy in mind, many grassroots efforts such as "The Project for Public Spaces" are being started to create this "Third Place" in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores, coffeehouses, local pubs and through many innovative means to create the "Social Capital" needed to foster the sense and "Spirit of Community."

While Dr. Moore was still on active duty in the United States Air Force, he was put in charge of developing the "Spirit of Community" by creating and implementing a revived Family Support Center at Yokota Air Base, Japan. As of 2022, Dr. Moore has observed a lack of “Socialization” at many workplaces that can possibly be attributed to what he calls the "Self Isolation Barriers" that has developed due to COVID-19 and many other environmental disturbances.

Anthropology

Community and its features are central to anthropological research. "Cultural Anthropology" is the study of communal cultures. Following from this field is cross-cultural studies, which look at the differences in culture or community structure across different communities. Archaeology studies historical communities no longer in existence. Within these fields are more specific subfields over which there exists a fair amount of overlap.

Some of these subsets include:

Anthropology Of Religion - The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. Anthropologists of religion are usually cultural or social anthropologists.
Urban Anthropology - Urban anthropology is the study of cultural systems and identities in cities as well as the various political, social, economic, and cultural forces that shape urban forms and processes. Although anthropologists have studied cities since the 1930s, the label urban anthropology became common only in the early 1960s.
Anthropology of Ethnicity – Ethnicity refers to an ethnic group that a person identifies with or feels a part of to the exclusion of other groups. An ethnic group shares similar values and norms defined by such things as language (e.g., Hispanics), geography (e.g., Somalis), religion (e.g., Jews), or race (see discussion of race below). While this seems like a straightforward concept, it can be murky. Children of parents of different ethnicities may perceive themselves one way and others perceive them as something else. This can occur even among the siblings of or between generations in mixed-ethnic families.
Anthropology of Racial Make-up - A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term was first used to refer to speakers of a common language and then to denote national affiliations. By the 17th century, the term began to refer to physical traits.
Anthropology of Virtual Communities – A virtual community is a social network of individuals who connect through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. Some of the most pervasive virtual communities are online communities operating under social networking services.
Ecological Anthropology – Ecological anthropology focuses upon the complex relations between people and their environment. Human populations have ongoing contact with and impact upon the land, climate, plant, and animal species in their vicinities, and these elements of their environment have reciprocal impacts on humans (Salzman and Attwood 1996:169). Ecological anthropology investigates the ways that a population shapes its environment and the subsequent manners in which these relations form the population’s social, economic, and political life (Salzman and Attwood 1996:169). In a general sense, ecological anthropology attempts to provide a materialist explanation of human society and culture as products of adaptation to given environmental conditions (Seymour-Smith 1986:62).
Psychological Anthropology - Psychological anthropology is the study of psychological topics using anthropological concepts and methods. Among the areas of interest are personal identity, selfhood, subjectivity, memory, consciousness, emotion, motivation, cognition, madness, and mental health.

Social Philosophy

Much of philosophy has been focused on how people interact with one another. Some philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau, believed people live under social contracts with one another in order to prevent them from committing harm to each other. Karl Marx and conflict theorists believed there to be a perpetual struggle among groups within a community.

Similarly, Dr. Moore has found a struggle among blacks and Hispanics in the 33610, 33612, and 33617 zip code areas. Blacks perceive themselves as being left out of the “Re-Development” contract based on other re-development projects that has taken root in places like West Tampa Florida. They see themselves as being “Displaced” whenever there is an improvement in their residential area. Example where the destruction of “Public Housing” in Tampa which caused many blacks and Hispanics to “Migrate” to the 33612 and 33613 area which at one time was famously known as "Suitcase City" due to its high changeover of residents who was usually tenants and not homeowners.

The events are looked upon by many as “Gentrification”. This word "Gentrification" means the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.

Dr. Moore has been a proponent of Equal Housing sine 1992 after he returned from the Gulf War. It was then that he personally witness "Gentrification" in a small town of Belleville Illinois. Not too far from his home military base was another small city called "East Saint Louis" which we famously called, "East Boogie" because at that time, it was a city robbed of its value by the "Gentrification" process that left many store owners and residents with no hope of economical or social advancement. "Gentrification" happens behind closed doors and usually, only a few wealthy developers are behind each city and county plans. The residents usually find out long after the first land development equipment show up in their neighborhood. Don't get me wrong. The city and county due post notices about projected projects that the public can attend but the honest truth is that many do not attend due to lack of community involvement and laziness.

"Gentrification According To The Bible"

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:27-28)

Our God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, created this world and said that it was good. He made something out of nothing. God took what was formless and void and gave it shape. God took what was empty and filled it up with Hid delights. God took darkness and turned it to light. God gave order to chaos, creating ecosystems of equity that allow for everything he created to uniquely flourish. Later, God gave Mr. Levi N. Moore and Mrs. Josephine Moore a child and they called him Carlos, AKA "Bubba." This child grew-up to become a retired Air Force veteran and more importantly, a man of the Gospel and you now know him as Dr. Carlos N. Moore, Professor of Theology.

Back to the beginning, "Genesis". After creating the world, and everything in it, God ascribes a special task to humanity, created in his image. We are to be good "Stewards" of this world, using all the resources Our Creator bestows on us to continue creating environments of wholeness and flourishing for the entire cosmos. Be fruitful. Multiply. Replenish the earth. Subdue it.

What does it mean to subdue the earth? We are not commanded to humiliate the things that God has made, all people, and abuse them for selfish human gain. However, we are called to bring out the best in everything God has created. We are commanded to bring everything under the righteous and just rule of Jesus Christ, using every good gift He gives us to create a world where everyone has what they need, nobody needs to be afraid, and creation is radically flourishing.

This word "Gentrification" means the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process. "Gentrification" is a direct affront to the cultural mandate that God gives us as human beings. Let me first establish my working definition for "Gentrification". This is a definition that is heavily influenced by wealthy people who are constantly looking for new investments. "Gentrification" is also the influx of wealthier residents into a neighborhood that leads to the involuntary displacement of existing residents, usually people of color and and those of low economic gain; poor people.

"Gentrification" lacks justice and equity because it does not fully value the image of God in all people. "Gentrification" simply says, "Out with the old, in with the new." Out with the poor, in with the wealthy, with no opportunities for coexistence between them. Instead of getting at the root problems of poverty and blight in ways that are equitable for all, "Gentrification" settle for getting rid of people who are poor instead. This is not the way God intends for revitalization to occur.

Some people believe that "Gentrification" is necessary for the redevelopment of communities. The argument is that when wealthier residents move into a neighborhood, they invest in getting rid of urban blight. They say that the governments will now take notice of the urban plight and thereby take actions to assist the poor. WRONG! "Gentrification" focuses its attention on the middle to upper class residents only. Public spaces are renovated. Property taxes increase. Capital projects like paving streets and constructing sidewalks increase. Public schools receive more public dollars from tax increases.

However, going back to our working definition, we see inherent in "Gentrification" a grave injustice; the displacement of people, history, and culture. With "Gentrification", we also see our culture valuing people with higher incomes more than people who earn less. With the poor as the victims of such displacement, "Gentrification" is not grounded by the equity that God desires, but is exploitative in nature. "Gentrification" is not part of God’s work of restoration, redemption, and renewal.

Inherent in "Gentrification" is a posture and spirit that is eerily similar to "Colonialism". Here is a simple definition of "Colonialism"; It is a domination of a people or area by a foreign state or nation. I also means the practice of extending and maintaining a nation's political and economic control over another people or area. "Gentrification" is a posture of domination that doesn’t take into account the people, culture, and history in a place. "Gentrification" is a posture that values property more than the people who currently live on it. "Gentrification" is a posture that thinks everything is theirs for the taking. "Gentrification" is a posture that assumes that they have earned the right to solely revitalize neighborhoods because of their elevated socio-economic status, without considering the input, knowledge, and desires of those who have lived in a neighborhood for decades.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not advocating for neighborhoods that experience blight to be neglected. I am not even advocating that new and wealthier residents should not move into such neighborhoods. I am asking for us to expand our imagination. Is displacement the only way to revitalize a neighborhood, or is there another way? When we look at neighborhoods like the one that Levi and Josephine Moore raised me in, do I see them as places of scarcity or places of God’s deep abundance? Can I see people who don’t earn as much as equally endowed by God with creativity, skills, and knowledge that is vital for the flourishing of our neighborhoods? My answers are yes. My solutions to such problems lies within the framework of how God intended for His planet to operate. Equality for all with the acknowledgement that we are all created beings by God.

Through human agency, God commands us to continue to create new ideas with him that will benefit all of His creation. God wants his justice and equity to be greatly multiplied throughout the earth. God desires that the earth be filled with His glorious presence and His just laws. And God wants us to bring all things in creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, where everything experiences wholeness and flourishing.

When God blesses us and commands us to be fruitful, he doesn’t just bless middle and upper class people. The cultural mandate is God’s calling for all his creation. Through the power of his Spirit, God desires to call out potential and creativity in all His people. This is God’s amazing gift of common grace given to all of humanity for the flourishing of the entire cosmos.

There is another way to equitably develop a neighborhood. It is a way that sees both the brokenness and the beauty simultaneously. It speaks to the needs and mobilizes the assets of the neighborhood for change. It honors the people, history, and culture of a place. It is community driven and deeply participatory. Development without Displacement.

I believe there is hope for any neighborhood that has fallen on tough times. I believe we can creatively eradicate poverty without simply shuffling it to another neighborhood. Especially for neighborhoods that are still inhabited by people with skills, and gifts, and desires. People who want to stay in places that their families have called home for multiple generations.

Business And Communications Within Communities

Analyzing communities within businesses often deals with the study of bureaucracy, especially as multinational corporations play a larger role in global affairs. These businesses can have very distinct cultures across their global operations or even within one country's offices. Certain offices may have a more casual approach to business whereas others expect grinding hours and formality from their employees. Maintaining a consistent community feel across offices is a challenge to many of these global businesses, which many attempt to solve through global connectivity events and the dissemination of strict memoranda on company values.

Effective communication practices in group and organizational settings are important to the formation and maintenance of communities. How ideas and values are communicated within communities are important to the induction of new members, the formulation of agendas, the selection of leaders and many other aspects. Organizational communication is the study of how people communicate within an organizational context and the influences and interactions within organizational structures. Group members depend on the flow of communication to establish their own identity within these structures and learn to function in the group setting. Although organizational communication, as a field of study, is usually geared toward companies and business groups, these may also be seen as communities. The principles of organizational communication can also be applied to other types of communities.

Community Building And Organizing

Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck is of the view that the almost accidental sense of community which exists at times of crisis, for example in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks, can be consciously built. Peck believes that the process of "Conscious Community Building" is a process of building a shared story, and consensual decision making, built upon respect for all individuals and inclusivity of difference. He is of the belief that this process goes through four stages:

Pseudo-community: Where participants are "nice with each other," playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favorable sides of their personalities.

Chaos: When people move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their "shadow" selves. This stage places great demands upon the facilitator for greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that "organizations are not communities," and this pressure should be resisted.

Emptiness: This stage moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledging their own woundedness and brokenness, common to us all as human beings. Out of this emptiness comes

True community: The process of deep respect and true listening for the needs of the other people in this community. This stage Peck believes can only be described as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.

Community building can use a wide variety of practices, ranging from simple events such as potlucks and small book clubs to larger–scale efforts such as mass festivals and construction projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors.

Community Service

Community service is usually performed in connection with a nonprofit organization, but it may also be undertaken under the auspices of government, one or more businesses, or by individuals. It is typically unpaid and voluntary. However, it can be part of alternative sentencing approaches in a justice system, and it can be required by educational institutions.