Community: a basic unit of social change

I was at a party recently where the guests were saying how much they enjoyed being part of their community.

Somebody asked why this particular neighbourhood had such a strong sense of community. Nobody was able to agree exactly why they felt a sense of community what factors built a sense of community. It was quickly noted that not everyone at the party was even from the same neighbourhood, yet they still shared the sense of community.

Some guests offered suggestions as to what allowed them to associate with a given community:

-geographic proximity (the neighborhood, the city, the province, the country…)
-a shared history (childhood, school, friends, travel..)
-similar professional experiences (same field or even same employer)
-equivalent levels (and/or type) of education (including common language)
-socio-economic class (ie salary or wealth)
-size of the population (ie smaller populations breed stronger communities)
-shared interests (social justice, cycling, reading…)
-children and family needs/activities (local parks/sports/schools/community centers)
-common threats (perceived or real)
-desire to be included, loved or needed. (the need for social capital)

As I listened to, and participated in, this lively discussion, I realized that outside of the individual or their family unit, each person’s community—as THEY define it—is a basic unit where opinions or experiences are shared. As such, I couldn’t help but reflect upon the idea that a community is a basic unit of social change.

In an attempt to find a definition, I turned to Wikipedia: “In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. “

In 1887, a German Sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies argued that community (Gemeinschaft) is a tight and cohesive social entity due to the presence of a unity of will. In the language of social change, a unity of will must surely translate into action on one or more issues.

In my mind, I developed a visual image of multi-layered series of circles. Each circle represents a community defined by one of the determinants listed above (or others). Where two circles overlap, there is a population who share a dual association. When three or more circles overlap, there is a stronger sense of association amongst the members of subset.

For example, if two people have children, went to the same university, and both want to abolish torture, there is likely to be a very strong social bond between these two individuals, even if they've never met. I propose that a social marketing message designed based upon the knowledge of the interests and behaviors of one of these individuals, is likely to be appropriate for the other.

Indeed, social marketers, rather than addressing individual behavior directly, could aim to seek to identify community groups who share similar opinions or experiences. Addressing them as a group to create a change in social behavior could employ the same effort as generating individual behavior change, with much greater effect.