Community And Communitarianism

This text places communitarianism within current debates about topical ideas such as character building, the role of parents, the community and the individual, values education, citizenship, community education, standards and enviroment in schools.

Community and Communitarianism presents--and defends in detail--a care-centered ideal of a good and moral community: a form of social organization imbued with the virtues of a care-centered ethic, such as cooperation (in "teleological communities," cooperation in the realization of communal goals); mutual concern and solidarity; sympathy and empathy; benevolence; a spirit of sacrifice; and affection, love, and caring. It is argued that a care-centered ethic, hence a care-centered community, needs to be constrained and fortified by equal respect for the participants' basic human right to be treated as moral subjects, together with fair and just treatment. Besides contributing to social philosophy, the book contributes significantly to ethics.

The book offers a detailed critical analysis of the ideal of 'community' in politics. The book traces elements of the idea of community in a number of social and philosophical contests over the last century, explaining how these are articulated in very recent political and public policy debates. 'Community' is invoked as a justification for re-organisation of state institutions as the source of care, and support for individuals, and as an entity which is valuable in its own right, and needs itself to be sustained and defended. In community development, community action, community care, and community politics, the tensions and contradictions within the concept are often invariably felt community is both inclusive and exclusive; both organised and unstructured; and both hierarchical and egalitarian. The book argues that analyses of the concept of 'community' shows the role of ideas and ideals in shaping political actions, the barriers to the realization of community in practical contexts, and ultimately the untenability of the ideal itself.

Explains how Americans need to develop or restore a sense of community in order to reconstruct society.

Many have criticized liberalism for being too individualist, but few have offered an alternative that goes beyond a vague affirmation of the need for community. In this entertaining book, written in dialogue form, Daniel Bell fills this gap, presenting and defending a distinctively communitarian theory against the objections of a liberal critic. In a Paris cafe Anne, a strong supporter of communitarian ideals, and Philip, her querulous critic, debate the issues. Drawing on the works of such thinkers as Charles Taylor, Michael Sandel, and Alasdair MacIntyre, Anne attacks liberalism's individualistic view of the person by pointing to our social embeddedness. She then develops Michael Walzer's idea that political thinking involves the interpretation of shared meanings emerging from the political life of a community, and rebuts Philip's criticism that this approach damages her case by being conservative and relativistic. She goes on to develop a justification of communal life and to answer the criticism that communitarians lack an alternative moral and political vision. The book ends with two later discussions, by Will Kymlicka and Daniel Bell, in which Anne and another friend, Louise, argue about the merits of the book's earlier debate and put it in perspective. Daniel Bell's book is a provocative defence of a distinctively communitarian theory which will stimulate interest and debate among both students of political theory and those approaching the subject for the first time.

Intended as a supplement in Social and Political Philosophy, Political Theory, Political Ideologies, and Democratic Theory, as well as a core volume for courses taught exclusively on communitarianism. That liberal democratic theory needs to be changed and our institutions need to be reformed is an argument strenuously resisted by many political philosophers. The most interesting development in political philosophy in the last 15 years has been the communitarian critique of liberalism. Communitarians insist that deficiencies in liberal theory are directly to blame for the declining fortunes of the American people. They propose to substitute the values of community for values of liberty and equality as the guiding ideal of our culture.

Communitarianism, as a movement, is clearly a dominant theme within New Labour's educational policy. How does this affect education and the life and work of schools? Research has shown that there is a correlation between academic achievement and the strength of community life and awareness within a school. The aim of this book, therefore, is to introduce communitarian thought to classroom teachers and to those working in education. The book contextualizes the current debates within education around the many topical ideas being developed by communitarian thinkers, including: character building; the role of parents; the community and the individual; values education and citizenship; community education; and standards and ethos in schools. Throughout, the book makes specific reference to the practical implications for both primary and secondary schools as well as for further education colleges. This is a timely book that should be of interest to all those working in schools and with children and young people. It aims to be a guide to this important and highly influential movement that is shaping our educational future.

Communitarianism is a movement, founded by Amitai Etzioni in 1991, whose adherents are united in the belief that the West must balance their passion for individualism with a new sense of social responsibility.