SOC 531: Community First Class Discussion

Big Questions What is a Community? What are Community Studies? Who was W.E.B. DuBois?

Inductive Approach On Community –Is Purdue a community? –Is Philadelphia a community? –Do Afro-Americans (or blacks in the U.S.) constitute a community? –Do blacks in Philadelphia constitute a community? –Do blacks in the Seventh Ward constitute a community?

On DuBois Lewis, David Levering, W.E.B. DuBois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, (NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2000). W.E.B. DuBois, The Autobiography of W.E.B. DuBois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century (NY: International Publishers, 1968)

What Have We Learned Inductively? What are the critical elements that constitute a community? –Population –Place –Social organization (cat*net) –Nested and intersecting –Traditions/values or institutions/interests are variable

Defining Community Tradition of biological/evolutionary perspective –Natural community (Sumner) Folkways: habitual Mores: adaptive/sanctioned –Like plant and animal kingdoms Is nature imitating society Or is it vice-versa

Park and Chicago School Natural community –Unplanned –Competition for most desirable locations Unequal resources Different hierarchy of needs –Ecological niches Relatively homogeneous Populations and activities Find their places in “urban mosaic”

Park and Chicago School Competition between populations and activities produces “urban mosaic” Changes with change in transportation costs (new technologies) Follows ecological processes –Invasion –Succession –Dominance

Urban Ecology Changes in technology produce different patterns of the “urban mosaic” –Walking city of 18 th century –Canal and river cities of early 19 th century –RR cities of late 19 th century –Automobile cities (and suburbs) or 20 th century

DuBois Wants to be “objective” and “value free” Rejects biological theory of races and social progress (Sumner) Part of Progressive (liberal) movement –Wants to educate –Wants to reform –Pragmatism and planning

How objective is DuBois? Race Class Region Education Experience Methodology

Objectivity Possible? Desirable? Can we define community without biasing the results of our analysis? Consider Hogan (2003) definition –Place where –Human population –Lives and works

Consequences of Hogan’s Definition Death of community –Not the “unnatural” city planning –Not the death of cultural institutions –The modern alienation of life and work –The postmodern de-centered, global community But community is not dead –Alive and well in neighborhoods (Park) –Just changing form and content (Hogan)