ABSTRACT
For well over a century, the decline of community, and the loss that this represents to society, has provided one of the more consistent themes of social commentary and public discourse. From the moment that sociologists began to scrutinize the nature of community, some were eager to predict its imminent disappearance. Yet claims for the rediscovery of community, and arguments about its strengths and defensibility, have been almost as commonplace, and the current generation of sociologists is no different in displaying chronically divided opinions. Powerful arguments are adduced to explain why we should accept that we are witnessing the last stages of community’s long decay, whereas others invoke precisely the same circumstances as grounds for celebrating its revitalization, or anticipating its rebirth in new and socially more beneficial forms. From all points of view, there is agreement that the boundaries of community, real and perceived, are being stretched and transformed beyond recognition by the major social processes which influence people’s lives. These include the various changes described as ‘postmodernity’ and ‘globalization’. Theorists who analyse these largescale developments usually seek to explain how they impact upon the various social worlds (local, or otherwise bounded) which people inhabit, and invariably this entails developing some thesis about community and its future.
