The Quest For Community

One of the leading thinkers to emerge in the postwar conservative intellectual revival was the sociologist Robert Nisbet. His book The Quest for Community, published in 1953, stands as one of the most persuasive accounts of the dilemmas confronting modern society. Nearly a half century before Robert Putnam documented the atomization of society in Bowling Alone, Nisbet argued that the rise of the powerful modern state had eroded the sources of community—the family, the neighborhood, the church, the guild. Alienation and loneliness inevitably resulted. But as the traditional ties that bind fell away, the human impulse toward community led people to turn even more to the government itself, allowing statism—even totalitarianism—to flourish. This edition of Nisbet’s magnum opus features a brilliant introduction by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and three critical essays. Published at a time when our communal life has only grown weaker and when many Americans display cultish enthusiasm for a charismatic president, this new edition of The Quest for Community shows that Nisbet’s insights are as relevant today as ever.

During the final months of his life, Walt Disney was consumed with the world-wide problems of cities. His development concept at the time of his death on December 15th, 1966 would be his team’s conceptual response to the ills of the inner cities and the sprawl of the megalopolis: the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow or, as it became known, EPCOT. This beautifully written, instantly engrossing volume focuses on the original concept of EPCOT, which was conceived by Disney as an experimental community of about 20,000 people on the Disney World property in central Florida. With its radial plan, 50-acre town center enclosed by a dome, themed international shopping area, greenbelt, high-density apartments, satellite communities, monorail and underground roads, the original EPCOT plan is reminiscent of post-war Stockholm and the British New Towns, as well as today's transit-oriented development theory. Unfortunately, Disney himself did not live long enough to witness the realization of his model city. However, EPCOT's evolution into projects such as the EPCOT Center and the town of Celebration displays a remarkable commitment by the Disney organization to the original EPCOT philosophy, one which continues to have relevance in the fields of planning and development.

A look at how support groups have affected American society argues that, although support groups provide a warmth and security that holds society together, they can lead to an unhealthy self-absorption and a trivialized sense of what is sacred.

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Many churches recognize the importance of the genuine spiritual hunger in our time and are attempting to bridge the gulf between traditional religious institutions and the contemporary spiritual quest by revitalizing and retooling ancient spiritual practices. This book suggests that it is possible to relish the spiritual quest while honoring tradition and theological inquiry through practices such as spiritual guidance. It presents a sociological analysis of contemporary spirituality, case studies of congregations with spiritual guidance ministries, and reflection on historical practices and Protestant theological roots to explore the strengths and pitfalls of nurturing the contemporary spiritual quest in the average congregation. The resulting vision for congregation-based spiritual guidance incorporates practices that attend to person, community, and mission.

As the twentieth century draws to a close, the desire for communities that offer an improved quality of life - where the pedestrian is as viable as the motorist; where the architecture is varied, human-scaled, and responsive to its environment; where residents can find privacy yet enjoy the company of their neighbors - has taken on a particularly significant urgency. As Richard Sexton convincingly documents in Parallel Utopias, two special places - The Sea Ranch in Northern California and Seaside in the Florida panhandle - have arrived at two unique solutions in the search for the ideal community. A lively introductory essay outlines the nature of this archetypal quest, followed by an engaging discussion of the philosophy, architecture, history, and character of both communities. Sexton's sumptuous full-color photographs tour each community in detail, from their built environment and the surrounding dramatic coastal landscape to the furnishings residents have chosen for their homes. In their contributing essays, urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg analyzes with piercing clarity the evolution and contradictions of our contemporary communities, and architect William Turnbull, Jr., lucidly examines the role of the architect in shaping viable living spaces.

We live in a leadership crisis. "In an age when incompatible worlds collide and when scandals rock formerly stable institutions," says Walter Fluker, "what counts most is ethical leadership and the qualities of personal integrity, spiritual discipline, intellectual openness, and moral anchoring." Fluker finds these characteristics exemplified in the work and thought of black-church giants Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Thurman. This volume, for leaders and emergent leaders in religious and other settings, sets forth the context and principles for ethical leadership, particularly for ministries and other professions whose mission directly advances the common good. Fluker's volume grounds leadership in story, the appropriation of one's roots, as a basis for personal and social transformation. He then explores the key values of character, civility, and community for ethical action on the personal, public, and spiritual realms. From these considerations he develops a model of the specific virtues that embody each realm of ethical leadership before applying them to the practical aspects of leadership and decisionmaking.

Despite widespread concern over urban crime, public participation in local crime prevention programs is generally low and limited to a small, homogeneous group of middle-class home-owing residents. Conspicuously absent from these programs are the very people who are the most vulnerable to crime: the poor, immigrants, and visible minorities. In Refocusing Crime Prevention Stephen Schneider explores the capacity of disadvantaged neighbourhoods to organize around issues related to local crime and disorder. It identifies obstacles to community mobilization, many of which are strongly related to demographic and socio-psychological factors, including low socio-economic status.