The future of community : reports of a death greatly exaggerated / edited by Dave Clements ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Clements, Dave.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communities.

Communities--Political aspects.

Physical Description:

vii, 199 pages ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Pluto Press, 2008.

Summary:

We are constantly being told that communities are under threat, that we are losing a 'sense of community'. This book finds that the notion of community in Britain is actually threatened by the very thing intended to protect it; relentless government and third party interventions bent on imposing their own forms of social cohesion on the population. There is no doubt that modern societies, underpinned by a ruthlessly competitive and individualistic economic system, have undermined ties of family, solidarity and commonality. However, when an idea of community is articulated it is almost invariably along conservative and reactionary lines - with unelected spokespersons unquestionably accepted as 'community leaders', and with formal contractual relationships taking the place of 'traditional' social order. The short, punchy articles in this book criticise attempts by the state and other agencies to correct the so-called collapse of communities. This book is for students and citizens looking to get beyond the hysterical rhetoric of the government and media to find out about the real communities of the 21st century.

Contents:

Introduction: Who needs community anyway? / Austin Williams

Faking civil society / Dave Clements

A green unpleasant land / Alastair Donald

Public space : designing-in community / Richard Williams

New new urbanism / Austin Williams

Density versus sprawl / Karl Sharro

Salvation by brick? The life and death of British communities / Penny Lewis

Strictly personal : the working class confined to community / Andrew Calcutt

Virtual communities versus political realities / Martyn Perks

Minorities, multiculturalism and the metropolitan experience / Neil Davenport

From little Italy to big America / Elisabetta Gasparoni-Abraham

Rio on Galway : immigration and Ireland / Suzy Dean

Communities on the couch / Martin Earnshaw

Youthful misbehaviour or adult traumas? / Stuart Waiton

Parish pump politics / Dave Clements

Conclusion: A death greatly exaggerated / Alastair Donald.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0745328164

9780745328164

0745328172

9780745328171

OCLC:

228370523