Communitarianism
Communitarianism is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of community and shared values in shaping society. It advocates for a balance between individual rights and the common good, promoting civic engagement and responsibility. Communitarianism seeks to address social issues through collaborative efforts and the cultivation of strong, interconnected communities.
8 Key excerpts on "Communitarianism"
...The communitarian turn may be summed up in the phrase ‘from contract to community’. 1 Communitarians argue that citizenship is based on a social concept of the individual as a member of a community. Community, in this Communitarianism sense, means the civic community of the polity as opposed to a small-scale traditional community. In the most influential versions of Communitarianism, this civic conception of community has become the basis of a cultural politics of recognition, as in the writings of Charles Taylor. In some interpretations, where there is a stronger emphasis on pluralism, it is often defined in terms of the claims of recognition of a minority group. In the work of Robert Putnam community is linked to a theory of social capital. With Communitarianism, community has become a highly-contested term, and even within communitarian thought there are several strands. In many books and discussions on community the term is never defined, and consequently it is not easy to say exactly who are the representatives of ‘Communitarianism’. In the following analysis I distinguish four main versions of Communitarianism. The first kind is liberal Communitarianism, as associated with the political philosophy of Michael Sandel and Michael Walzer, with a later strand in the work of Charles Taylor. It also includes new concerns with the cultural rights of national communities. 2 The second kind of Communitarianism is what I call ‘radical pluralism’, which is characterized by an emphasis on group rights as opposed to the liberal patriotism of the former. Marion Iris Young and a number of feminist theorists can be associated with this version. The third kind is civic republicanism, or civic Communitarianism, as represented by such figures as Robert Bellah, Philip Selznick, Robert Putnam and David Miller. In their works the emphasis is more on participation in civil society and social capital than on purely cultural conceptions of community...
eBook - ePub- Simon Green(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...As a political philosophy, Communitarianism asserts that the real self is not autonomous but constituted through interactions with the community. Further, it argues that universal laws are not pertinent to societies in which each community’s view of rights will be relative to their circumstances (Kymlicka 1989). Communitarianism stresses the importance of the community in shaping individual ideas and practices and upholds the values of social obligation and civic behaviour. Within the communitarian movement there are a number of competing paradigms. Hughes (1996) distinguishes between the ‘moral authoritarian’ version espoused by Amitai Etzioni (1995, 1997) and the more radical ways in which Communitarianism has developed. Hughes (1996) identifies three alternative communitarian agendas: new local governance, radical egalitarianism and restorative justice. Each of these approaches veers away from Etzioni’s (1995, 1997) ‘moral authoritarianism’ whilst maintaining a belief that communities are the medium in which the good society can be realised. These other forms of Communitarianism will be returned to in Chapter 6 when considering alternatives to the current popularity of Etzioni’s (1995) philosophy. The ideas of Amitai Etzioni are most clearly expressed in his text The Spirit of Community (1995), in which he articulates the core themes of his manifesto. Central to this version of Communitarianism is the belief that America and other parts of the Western world are suffering from excessive individualism and a severe overemphasis on personal rights, which in turn leads to the collapse of the civil society. Manifestations of this include: ‘increases in the rate of violent crime, illegitimacy, drug-abuse, children who kill and show no remorse, and yes, political corruption’ (Etzioni 1995: x). In other words, the communitarians believe that most social ills are a product of the imbalance between personal rights and responsibilities...
eBook - ePubReforming Education in Developing Countries
From Neoliberalism to Communitarianism
- Izhar Oplatka(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Following this debate, new vocabulary began to appear in the literature such as community, civil society, empowerment, social capital, networks, participation, and civic engagement (Taylor, 2011). But Communitarianism was an extremely heterogeneous group of philosophers and social scientists who shared similar critical philosophical stances with regard to liberalism, although not identical ones. The communitarian scholars responded usually to what they perceived as major shortcomings in Rawlsian liberalism and suggested new alternative thoughts in the area of social theory. Among these philosophers were Michael Sandel, Alisdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, Michael Walzer, and others whose arguments are discussed in this chapter, even though some of them have never defined themselves publicly as communitarians. Yet, communitarian scholars have not only criticized liberalism but also suggested new conceptualizations of the links between personal identity and behavior and their social and political contexts. Many have praised collective goods or social ideals and counterargued against individual independence and self-realization, conceptualizing roles, social relations, and institutions as ‘socially constructed’ (Frazer, 1999, p. 18). They also highlighted the critical role of the community in the individual’s identity and analyzed the meanings of social solidarity and responsibilities. Selznick (2002) explained: The new communitarians are well aware that community has dangers and deficits as well as benefits. They have tried to think anew, conscious of the need to vindicate freedom as well as solidarity, rights as well as responsibilities. A central theme is the enhancement of personal and social responsibility. The communitarian ethos is not mainly about sympathy, benevolence, or compassion. It is about meeting our obligations as responsible parents, children, employees, employers, officials, and citizens … (pp...
eBook - ePubChanging Family Values
Difference, Diversity and the Decline of Male Order
- Gill Jagger, Caroline Wright, Gill Jagger, Caroline Wright(Authors)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Even markets, it is observed, are founded on trust, shared meanings and conformity to norms—which are the threshold that enables instrumental self-interest then to operate without complete social breakdown. It is notable that the philosophical communitarians have not rushed to sign up to political communitarian platforms. Rather they have tended to reassert their commitment to liberal values and principles and to distance themselves from some other inferences that have been drawn from philosophical Communitarianism—notably the valorisation of communal tradition, and the identification of groups such as ethnic formations, nations and kinship as surpassing the value of the individual’s autonomy (Taylor 1989; Walzer 1990: 22; Rorty 1989). There can be no clear inference from Communitarianism to a political programme. But we find themes that are recognisable from philosophical Communitarianism in the writings of the political communitarians. For instance, they promote the social thesis that insists that individuals are fundamentally connected to each other, that our relations are constitutive of our social identities and personalities, that the quality of our lives, judgements, and understandings of the world are causally connected to the institutions and networks within which we live, and that communities are valuable in themselves (Etzioni 1993a: 116–22). Second, communitarians mention the importance of interpretivism in ethics. The idea is that ethical principles or values are only powerful if they are in some sense already part and parcel of ordinary people’s ideas in and about their daily lives. Communitarians appeal to people’s tacit understandings that community really does matter, that our unchosen obligations to others are as important as our voluntaristic choices and freely entered into contracts...
eBook - ePub- David l. Miller(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...Insofar as we can describe the miscellaneous set of political philosophers who are labelled communitarians as a group, what unites them are their anti-individualist philosophical anthropologies. They appear to be critics of liberalism only because there is some affinity between individualism and standard liberalism. (This affinity, by the way, is just that: an affinity, not a logical connection. Holding an individualist anthropology is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for adopting liberal political doctrines: to see that it isn’t a sufficient condition, think of the case of Hobbes, who moved from individualist premises to authoritarian political conclusions.) Three forms of Communitarianism But if communitarians are not rightly understood as critics of liberalism, how are we to make sense of their political doctrines? If we begin from a communitarian anthropology, one that emphasizes the social constitution of the self and the embeddedness of the individual in social relations, what follows about the shape of our social and political institutions? On the basis of what has been said so far about communitarian anthropology, the answer seems to be: nothing of very much substance. There are two paths along which we might try to move from the anthropological premise to some sort of political conclusion. On the one hand, we might argue that, because our identities are socially constituted, and therefore shared with others, it is both legitimate and desirable for these identities to be reflected in the way that our institutions are constructed and our policies are designed. The public sphere should express those aspects of the self that we hold in common with others. If that common identity involves adherence to a particular religion, for example, then our political institutions should be guided by the principles and symbolism of that religion...
eBook - ePub- Ian Ward(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge-Cavendish(Publisher)
...The specific invocation of Jeffersonian ideas of democracy has been most recently expressed in Gary Hart's Restoration of the Republic. According to Hart: In the current age, Jefferson's democratic republican ideal might yield a new political culture or a polity founded upon humanity's essentially social nature; a new destiny founded on participation in community life; the restoration of a public ethic that supercedes the private, commercial self; and the elevation of the common good and of commonwealth institutions, such as public schools as instruments of civic education, community welfare as a political and moral function of the ward, and local security provided by the citizen-soldier (Hart, 2002, p 23). Such a Communitarianism, Hart impresses, would encourage, even demand, ‘qualitative’ personal engagement in promoting the ‘common good’ (Hart, 2002, p 61). The wistful tone finds a still clearer expression in Alisdair MacIntyre's suggestion that there is a ‘grave disorder’ in western moral and political philosophy. The late 20th century is characterised by the ‘dissolution of historically founded certitudes’, and it is the individualism championed by a utilitarian liberalism which Communitarianism attacks. MacIntyre admits that there are no moral absolutes, but invokes Aristotle's idea of community to suggest that a community can establish a political, as opposed to universal or natural, ethics. Communitarianism must be refounded securely on such a conception, and present a bulwark against the kind of moral nihilism represented by more radical critical legal scholars (MacIntyre, 1985, pp 2–7, 62–74, 113–17; 1988, p 362). The essential concept in a renewed communitarian politics is justice, because it is justice which underpins the idea of ‘virtue’. The two are codeterminative, for to be virtuous is to be just in all dealings with fellow citizens...
eBook - ePubJustice
A Beginner's Guide
- Raymond Wacks(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Oneworld Publications(Publisher)
...11 Communitarianism We are all part of a community. We belong to a place – a city, a suburb or a village – that we call ‘home’. It may be the place where we were born, where we grew up or where we now live. But there are also what have been called ‘communities of memory’ which share a history that members seek to re-invigorate in pursuit of the common good; these include one’s nation or a particular language-based group. In addition there are the communities of which we are a part as a result of shared activity or experience: family, school, university, workplace and so on. Communitarians support principles that enhance the interests of the community, civic virtue and social solidarity. The core of justice, they claim, is to be found in the answer to the question of what constitutes a good life. The leading communitarian, Michael Sandel (1953–), shows how we generally have a sense of ‘solidarity’ towards institutions such as our family, country and religion that does not arise from any contract. Communitarians emphasize the development and improvement of character, decency, individual responsibility and virtues in the public domain. Communitarianism seeks to enhance these values through education, community-based groups, the family and civil society. It is presented as a positive approach to questions of public policy. Although it acknowledges human self-interest, it believes in the possibility of creating a better society founded on co-operation in pursuit of constructive community goals. As an example, Sandel asks you to imagine that you see two children drowning. You have time to save only one. One child is yours. Which do you save? Is it wrong to rescue your own child? Would it be better to toss a coin? Most of us would accept that saving your own child is perfectly acceptable. It is a matter of our moral duty towards members of our own family...
eBook - ePub- Mark Bevir(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...U U NIVERSALITY Political theory has conventionally proceeded on the basis that its insights are applicable universally. The universal applicability of political theory is now far less self-evident, due to challenges to the idea of universality from a number of quarters, including Communitarianism, feminism, and postmodernism. These challenges have led some to abandon the ideal of universality, while leading others to rethink and reinterpret the notion of universality. Accounts of the debate over the utility of universality within political theory have generally proceeded through delineating the oppositional relationship of liberal and communitarian theory. Liberalism is cast as adhering to the value of universality, in its insistence on the necessity for neutral universal norms derived by abstracting people from their particular situation. Communitarianism disputes liberalism’s elevation of abstract individualism. Instead, it emphasizes the priority of community over individuality and conceives of normative principles as embedded in communal practices. Rather than abstracting people from their social context in order to distill universally applicable normative principles, Communitarianism suggests that such values derive from localized social and cultural traditions. The liberal/communitarian opposition does not exhaust the range of debate over universality. Rather, it overlaps with numerous other contests over the necessity of universality in political theory. The notion of universal personhood has been strongly challenged by feminism, which argues that the characteristics of this abstract man are, rather than universally shared, in fact valorized attributes of masculinity—rational, unencumbered, self-knowing—against which femininity has been defined and excluded. Further, universal norms have been challenged by postcolonial critics, who discern in them an insidious cultural imperialism...
