The Future of Community: Reports of a Death Greatly Exaggerated

Eds: Martin Earnshaw, Dave Clements, Alastair Donald & Austin Williams (Pluto Press)


We are constantly being told that we are losing a ‘sense of community’. This book shows that the notion of community is actually under threat from the very thing supposed to protect it: relentless government intervention.
The family and collective institutions have certainly suffered in the face of market forces and moralising. But, the authors argue, a far bigger threat to social solidarities comes from the crisis of political confidence. Replacing a political vision for society with instrumental attempts to create ‘community’ has given rise to unelected ‘community leaders’, and formalised community relationships to the detriment of traditional freedoms. This book argues that for genuine communities to flourish we need a space, free from official intervention, where people can confidently negotiate their own relations.

Visit the Future of Community Blog here: http://www.futureofcommunity.org.uk/

Via The Future Cities Project - Publications