Editing Community (section)

==Development==
{{main|Community development}}

Community development is often linked with [[community practice|community work]] or community planning, and may involve stakeholders, foundations, governments, or contracted entities including [[non-government organisations]] (NGOs), universities or government agencies to progress the social well-being of local, regional and, sometimes, national communities. More grassroots efforts, called [[community building]] or [[community organizing]], seek to empower individuals and groups of people by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities.<ref>Kelly, Anthony, ''With Head, Heart and Hand: Dimensions of Community Building'' (Boolarong Press) {{ISBN|978-0-86439-076-9}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref> These skills often assist in building political power through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda. Community development practitioners understand how to work with individuals and affect communities' positions within the context of larger social institutions. Public administrators, in contrast, understand community development in the context of rural and urban development, housing and economic development, and community, organizational and business development.

Formal accredited programs conducted by universities, as part of degree granting institutions, are often used to build a knowledge base to drive curricula in [[public administration]], [[sociology]] and [[community studies]]. The [[General Social Survey]] from the [[National Opinion Research Center]] at the [[University of Chicago]] and the [[Saguaro Seminar]] at the [[Harvard Kennedy School]] are examples of national community development in the United States. The [[Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs]] at Syracuse University in New York State offers core courses in community and economic development, and in areas ranging from non-profit development to US budgeting (federal to local, community funds). In the United Kingdom, the [[University of Oxford]] has led in providing extensive research in the field through its ''Community Development Journal,''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050709123855/http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/ Community Development Journal], Oxford University Press</ref> used worldwide by sociologists and community development practitioners.

At the intersection between community ''development'' and community ''building'' are a number of programs and organizations with community development tools. One example of this is the program of the [[Asset-based community development|Asset Based Community Development]] Institute of [[Northwestern University]]. The institute makes available downloadable tools<ref>ABCD Institute, in cooperation with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051220065331/http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd/kelloggabcd.html ''Discovering Community Power: A Guide to Mobilizing Local Assets and Your Organization's Capacity'']. {{Dead link|date=August 2021}}</ref> to assess community assets and make connections between [[Non-profit organization|non-profit groups]] and other organizations that can help in community building. The Institute focuses on helping communities develop by "mobilizing neighborhood assets"&nbsp;– building from the inside out rather than the outside in.<ref>ABCD Institute. 2006. [http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html Welcome to ABCD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000819043809/http://www.northwestern.edu/IPR/abcd.html |date=2000-08-19 }}.</ref> In the disability field, community building was prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s with roots in John McKnight's approaches.<ref>Lutfiyya, Z.M (1988, March). ''Going for it": Life at the Gig Harbor Group Home''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Center on Human Policy, Research and Training Center on Community Integration.</ref><ref>McKnight, J. (1989). ''Beyond Community Services''. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, Center of Urban Affairs and Policy Research.</ref>

===Building and organizing===
[[File:Affinity group collateral damage.jpg|thumb|upright|The anti-war [[affinity group]] "Collateral Damage" [[Activism|protesting]] the [[Iraq War]]]]

In ''The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace'' (1987) [[M. Scott Peck|Scott Peck]] argues that the almost accidental sense of community that exists at times of crisis can be consciously built. Peck believes that conscious community building is a process of deliberate design based on the knowledge and application of certain rules.<ref>[[M. Scott Peck]], (1987). ''The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace'', pp. 83–85.</ref> He states that this process goes through four stages:<ref>Peck (1987), pp. 86–106.</ref>

# '''Pseudocommunity''': When people first come together, they try to be "nice" and present what they feel are their most personable and friendly characteristics.
# '''Chaos''': People move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their "shadow" selves. <!-- term not previously defined, or mentioned: This stage places great demands upon the FACILITATOR for greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that "organizations are not communities", and this pressure should be resisted. -->
# '''Emptiness''': Moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledging their own woundedness and brokenness, common to human beings.
# '''True community''': Deep respect and true listening for the needs of the other people in this community.
<!-- unsourced editorializing: This stage Peck believes can only be described as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.-->

In 1991, Peck remarked that building a sense of community is easy but maintaining this sense of community is difficult in the modern world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community-a-definition-and-theory |title=Sense of Community: A Definition and Theory — Dr. David McMillan |access-date=2022-12-29 |archive-date=2022-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229114933/https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community-a-definition-and-theory |url-status=live }}</ref> An interview with M. Scott Peck by Alan Atkisson. ''In Context'' #29, p.&nbsp;26.
The three basic types of community organizing are [[grassroots]] organizing, [[coalition]] building, and "institution-based community organizing", (also called "broad-based community organizing", an example of which is [[faith-based community|faith-based community organizing]], or [[Congregation-based Community Organizing]]).<ref>Jacoby Brown, Michael, (2006), ''Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide To Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World'' (Long Haul Press)</ref>

Community building can use a wide variety of practices, ranging from simple events (e.g., [[potluck]]s, small [[Book discussion club|book clubs]]) to larger-scale efforts (e.g., mass [[festival]]s, [[construction]] projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors).

Community building that is geared toward citizen action is usually termed "community organizing".<ref name=organizing>Walls, David (1994) [http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml "Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115100115/http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml |date=2010-11-15 }}. From ''The Workbook'', Summer 1994, pp. 52–55. Retrieved on: June 22, 2008.</ref> In these cases, organized community groups seek accountability from elected officials and increased direct representation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faith negotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, [[boycott]]ing, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. <!-- unsourced examples: The [[ARISE Detroit!]] coalition and the [[Toronto Public Space Committee]] are examples of [[activism|activist networks]] committed to shielding local communities from government and corporate domination and inordinate influence.-->

Community organizing can focus on more than just resolving specific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessible power structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equally throughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groups facilitate and encourage [[consensus decision-making]] with a focus on the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alinsky |first=Saul D |title="Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals" |publisher=1971}}</ref>

If communities are developed based on something they share in common, whether location or values, then one challenge for developing communities is how to incorporate individuality and differences. Rebekah Nathan suggests{{according to whom|date=October 2018}} in her book, ''My Freshman Year'', we are drawn to developing communities totally based on sameness, despite stated commitments to diversity, such as those found on university websites.