Community Engagement,

Solidarity, and Citizenship

Chapter 1: Community
What is in your community?
A. Concepts and Perspectives of
Community
1. Importance of Understanding Community
Dynamics and Community Action

• Learning about
communities is a key
to appreciating our
daily interactions
with others, as we
locate ourselves in a
web of social
connections.
1. Importance of Understanding Community
Dynamics and Community Action

• Understanding the
dynamics within our
community aids us in
responding to the
collective challenges we
face.
 Definitions of Community

• Derived from the latin word

communistas meaning
fellowship
• Communis means common.
• Com translates to “with” or
“together”
• Munire translates to “to
strengthen”, “to fortify”, or
“to defend”.
 Social Science Perspective

• An informalized organized
social entity, characterized
by a sense of identity
 Social Science Perspective

• A group of people
living in a defined
area, sharing
common basic
values, organization,
and interest.
 Social Science Perspective

• A group of people
whose connections
and relations are
formed by their
shared histories,
experiences,
geographies, and
identities.
 Institutional Perspective

• Communities have a
mechanism for
coordinating values,
goals, and actions, of
its individual
members.
• Social Institutions
perform this action.
Institutions
• Are established rules
that ensure the
regular and
predictable behavior
of actors within a
community.
 Categories
• Formal institutions- explicitly
communicated, embodied,
and legally codified
documents or artifacts.

• Example: Laws and policies

that are implemented by
government agencies or
offices.
 Categories
• Informal institutions-
are practices, norms,
traditions, culture,
conduct, and belief
systems of
community.
 Civil Society Perspective

• Communities are built in

pursuit of advocacies
and goals.

• Examples: Non
Governmental
Organization and
People’s Organization.
 Civil Society Perspective

• In most cases the goals

and strategies of NGOs
and POs complement with
those of the State and are
presumed to work in
partnership with the state
in cooperative mode to
address societal problems.
 Civil Society Perspective

• Environmental protection
• Social welfare
• Promotion of human rights
and civil liberties
• Among others
 Organic Perspective

• An organic perspective
of a community refers
to local or grassroots
groups within a
particular locale that are
driven and organized
because of community
issues and concerns.
 Organic Perspective

• Crime prevention
• Environmental problem
• Waste management
 3. Elements
a. Structural Dimension

• Geographical
Dimension- focuses
on how a community
is shaped by the
physical space it uses
and location of its
resources- human,
natural, and
technological
 3. Elements
a. Structural Dimension
• Geographical Dimension-
an examination of
community’s geographic
system would typically
start by looking at the
scope and limits of its
territory, distribution of its
population and the location
of its resources.
 Socio-Political Dimension

• It refers to the
relationship of power
of control between
individuals and
groups in a
community.
 Economic Dimension

• Refers to the means

by which members of
community allocate,
produce, and
distribute scare
resources to address
their wants and
needs.
 Cultural Dimension

• Refers to people way

of life. It
encompasses the
values and beliefs
that are passed from
one generation to
another.
 3. Elements
B. Dynamic and Processes

• Focuses on a
community power
relations, leadership,
and social change.
 3. Elements
B. Dynamic and Processes

• Formal power
structure from the
legal authoritative
basis of elected and
appointed
government officials
and leaders of civic
organizations.
 3. Elements
B. Dynamic and Processes

• Informal power structure exists

alongside the formal institutional
power structure, it is harder to
empirically identify, but is equally a
significant factor in community’s
development.
 Actors

• Legal-authoritative
decision-makers –
individuals or bodies
whose authority is
based on a formal
rules and institutions.
 Influencers

• Individuals or groups
who do not have
direct authority, but
are capable of
shaping decisions
that affect the
community.
4. Typologies of Community
 Formal-informal Typology

• Emphasizes
leadership and power
relations in the
community.
 Rural-Urban Typology

• Is based on the
distinction of terms
of development,
industrialization,
ecological condition
and lifestyle.