ABSTRACT
Community discourses have a strong presence in the ecological movement because of the nostalgic ideal of small, localised communities that can operate in harmony with nature. These approaches have been questioned, not only on the basis of their feasibility, but more importantly on account of their inability to deal with issues such as segregation, exclusion of difference, and universalisation of values, especially with regard to contemporary urban environments. The ecological discussion is, of course, nothing but a fractal reiteration of the general discussion on community. Traditionally considered, community is an intermediate ground between the monad and the collective. Community purportedly brings forth the needs and interests of an individual and links them to similar interests of other individuals in order to project these interests convincingly and legitimately, or simply to bring individuals together and satisfy their need for sociality.1 More recently, thinkers have disassociated community from identity, and have started looking in difference for ways in which collectivity can be expressed.2 On a more philosophical level, a sizeable portion of more radical texts attempt to establish places in between the theses of identity and difference, which accept the being-in-community while retaining the singularity-of-being.3 It is in the latter that I seek inspiration for a formation of a community in an environment of ignorance. But, before that, some general observations on the present state of community are of relevance.
