ABSTRACT
The first chapter discusses the concept of community, and how it is and has been used. We argue for a more nuanced concept of community, because it draws our attention to something fundamental, the quality of lived human life, which should retain a central place in sociological analysis. There is reason to view various forms of communities as social facts with concrete material consequences, such as differentiated property prices in different boroughs, in relation to (inter)subjective aspects like perceived qualities, community relations and narratives about the ‘good local atmosphere’. The book takes mainly a constructivist-interactionist position, which is not relativistic, but regards social and intersubjective processes as important starting points in the development of institutions and structures.
