COMMUNITY
Community is another fundamental concept used in sociology. Because human civilization grows and develops in the lap of the community. It is a well-known fact that an individual rarely exists alone. He always lives with his fellows in a group. It is also equally valid that one can’t be a member of all groups existing globally. Hence an individual life establishes relations with those who reside near him, i.e., with a definite territory. It is also obvious that people residing in a definite area develop likeness, cooperation, and fellow-feeling among themselves. As a result, they share common customs, traditions, and cultures and develop common social ideas. This fact of everyday social living within a limited or definite geographical area gives birth to the community.
But the origin and growth of the community go back to the origin of human civilization. Man has been living in a community of some sort since his arrival. Community is the original and first abode of human civilization. The human civilization itself reared up in the community. During the pre-historic era, the man led a nomadic or barbarian life and was wandering here and there for food and could not settle up anywhere. But when his mental horizon increased, he learns the skill to collect food and other needs from a particular place, mainly on river banks or fertile areas and permanently settled there. When a group of people or families lived together in a particular area which led them to share each other’s joys and sorrows; as a result, a pattern of everyday living is created which marked the origin of community life. Gradually community life expands with the creation of a particular area. This led to the emergence of different social, political, economic, and cultural institutions. As a result, a full-fledged community was created.
However, the term community has been derived from two Latin words ‘Com’ and ‘Munis’ which means ‘together’ and ‘servicing’ respectively. It consists of a group of people with common and shared interests. But in common discourses, the term community is often wrongly used, such as racial community, caste community, religious community, etc. Here, the meaning of the term community differs from the one used in sociology. The term is also used both in a narrower and broader sense. In a little sense, community refers to the Hindu or Muslim community, but the community may refer to a nation or world community in a broader sense. It also refers to a village, a town, or a tribal community. When a group of individuals or members of any group, small or large, live together and share a common life and have developed a strong sense of we-feeling among themselves, they form a community. They enter into definite social, economic, and cultural relations and have developed a sense of community consciousness that distinguishes them from others. A group of individuals or a group of families living in Physical Proximity in a definite geographical boundary constitutes a community.
But to understand the meaning of the term community, we must have to look at the definitions given by sociologists. Butt sociologists differ among themselves in their approach to the meaning of community. Some emphasize area or ecological aspects, whereas others emphasize psychological elements.
Definition of Community
According to Maclver, “Community is an area of social living marked by some degree of social coherence.”
According to Kingsley Davis, “Community is the smallest territorial group that can embrace all aspects of social life.”
According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “Community is the total organization of social life within a limited area.”
According to Arnold Green, “A community is a cluster of people, living within a small contiguous area, who share a common way of life.”
According to E. S. Bogardus, “Community is a social group with some degree of ‘we-feeling’ and living in a given area.”
According to G. A. Lundberg, “Community is a human population living within a limited geographical area and carrying on a common inter-dependent life.”
Thus, community refers to a group, either small or large, whose members live together in such a way that they share a common life and have developed a strong sense of community sentiment or consciousness among them, which distinguishes them from others.
Characteristics or elements of community:
The meaning of community can be better understood if we analyze its characteristics or elements. These characteristics decide whether a group is a community or not. However, the community has the following characteristics or elements:
Group of people:
A community is a group of people. Whenever individuals live together to share the necessary conditions of common life, we call them forming a community.
Locality:
The group of people forms a community when it begins to reside in a definite locality. A community always occupies a territorial area. The area need not be fixed forever. The people may change their habitation area from time to time, just as the nomadic community does. However, most communities are now well settled and derive a strong bond of solidarity from their locality conditions. Among the village people, there is unity because they reside in a definite locality. Due to the extending communication facilities in the modern world, the territorial bond has been weakened, yet the locality's character as a social classifier has never been transcended.
Community sentiment:
Community sentiment means a feeling of belonging together. It is ‘we feeling’ among the members. In modern times this sentiment is very much lacking among the people occupying a specific local area. For example, in big cities, a man does not know even his next-door neighbour. A mere neighbourhood does not create a community if community sentiment is lacking. Therefore, to create a community, the sentiment of common living must be present among the locality residents.
Permanency:
A community is not transitory like a crowd. It essentially includes a permanent life in a definite place.
Naturality:
Communities are not made or created by an act of will but are natural. An individual is born in a community.
Likeness:
In a community, there is a likeness in language, customs, mores, etc. According to Green, “A community is a cluster of people living within a narrow territorial radius, who share a common way of life.”
Wider Ends:
In communities, the people associate not for the fulfillment of a particular end. The ends of a community are wider. These are natural and not artificial.
Particular Name:
Every community has a particular name. In the words of Lumley, “It points to an identity, it indicates reality, it points out individuality, it often describes the personality, and each community is something of a personality.” For example, people living in Punjab are called Punjabis, while those living in Kashmir are called Kashmiris.
No Legal Status:
A community is not a legal person. It cannot sue, nor can it be sued in the eyes of the law, it has no rights and duties.
Size of community:
A community may be big or small. A big community such as a nation will contain several small communities and groups with more close bonds of unity and more numerous common qualities.
Today, efforts are being made to extend community limits to include the whole earth and create one world community. Smaller communities like villages or neighbourhoods are examples of the primitive world. With the expansion of community to the nation's dimensions and even the world, smaller communities now remain only in degree. Both types of communities, big or small, are essential to the full development of life. While the larger community provides peace and protection, the smaller provides friends and friendship.
The distinction between Community and Society
Community Sentiment:
As seen above, a community is a group of people who live together in a particular locality and share the basic conditions of common life. To constitute a community, the presence of sentiment among the members is necessary. Society includes every relation which is established among the people. The name of the structure of all social relationships is direct or indirect, organized or unorganized, conscious or unconscious, co-operative, or antagonistic. There is an element of likeness in society, but it is not necessary that likeness should include the people in oneness; the enemies can also be included in society. When we think of society, we think more particularly of organization, but where we think of community, we think of life; hence organization springs.
Secondly, society has no definite boundary or assignable limits. It is universal and pervasive. Society is the name of our social relationships. A community, on the other hand, is a group of people living together in a particular locality.
Community a species of society:
Community is the species of society. It exists within society and possesses its distinguishable structure, which distinguishes it from other communities. Some communities are all-inclusive and independent of others. Among primitive peoples, sometimes communities of not more than a hundred persons are found, which were almost isolated. Small communities exist within greater communities; the village within a town, the town within a region, and the nation.
Community is concrete, society is abstract:
Society is a network of social relationships that cannot be seen or touched. It is an abstract concept. On the other hand, the community is a concrete concept. It is a group of people living in a particular locality and having a feeling of oneness. We can see this group and locate its existence.
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