What is Community

Defining Community The word ‘community’ is used, and abused, in several ways. I would like to define the word ‘community’ and later on I would define the community work, particularly my own experience of working with South Asian community for last twenty years. I would also incorporate various other theories, academic work on this issue. The realistic definition of ‘community’ as a working idea related to peoples’ residence, employment, leisure patterns, and to services provided by central and local government agencies. There are five usage of word community. (1) Community is often loosely and emotively employed as an imprecise synonym for society. This usage is often employed by politicians or by others making political addresses who want to emphasise the mutuality and sense of obligation of all members of a political unit over some issue. For example, “The community has a duty to ensure that the rights of the poor should be looked after. Such use of community by the politicians or others is imprecise, misleading and to be avoided. (2) Community is used to designate a category of people who do share certain characteristics but who also have many differences from one another. Instances of quite different t

This is a very specialised usage and again should never be allowed to imply a higher common denominator than can be clearly demonstrated. (3)Community may be used with very wide geographical and political reference. In the United Kingdom, socialism is a mixture of both Fabianism and Marxism. Since the 1960s community work theory and practice have been influenced by two macro theories: the pluralist; and the radical and socialist. Feminism, both as a socio-political theory and as a social movement, has, reconstructed perspectives in many different areas of life. Feminist theory and the black and anti-racist critique, have demonstrated that all oppressed groups, women and black people, can, through collective action, attempt to overcome their subordination. Radical theories traditionally advocate far- reaching and fundamental changes in the political, social and economic system. Pluralism is a political perspective that attaches major significance to pressure groups and interest groups in which, its advocates claim, are centres of power and influence. They all in different ways, have some impact upon policy, but none dominates the mechanism of government. Critical of the pluralist model of community work for its negation of a wider political analysis. ), the Italian, Irish, Asian or West Indian community-meaning a set of people from those countries living in another. It can be dangerous and can be used in a chauvinistic and disruptive way which stimulate aggression by one group of people against others, and the history of war propaganda is replete with such instances. ypes are: the Catholic community (or Jewish, Protestant, Moslem or any other religion), the Black community (or white, coloured, etc. "Left"tm radicalism, offers a far-reaching critique of society that question the very nature of the social, political and economic forces within society but does not offer a comprehensive and workable view of a future society.