Importance of studying community dynamics and community action in relation to Applied

Social Sciences for learners’ future career options

Community is a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government,
and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
 Community is all the people living in an area or a group or groups of people who share common
interests.
 Community is a locality inhabited by such a group.
 Community is a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or
interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within
which it exists.
 Community is a group of people living in the same place or having particular characteristics in
common.

Community action is any activity that increases the understanding, engagement and empowerment of
communities in the design and delivery of local services.
 Community action includes a broad range of activities and is sometimes described as ‘social
action' or ‘community engagement'. These activities can vary in their objective, the role the
community plays, the types of activities involved, their scale and their integration within the council.
What they have in common is that they all involve greater engagement of local citizens in the
planning, design and delivery of local services.

Why is community action important?

 Community action is about putting communities at the heart of their own local services. Involving
communities in the design and delivery of services can help to achieve a number of objectives,
including:
1. Building community and social capacity – helping the community to share knowledge, skills and
ideas.
2. Community resilience – helping the community to support itself.
3. Prevention – a focus on early access to services or support, engagement in design, cross-sector
collaboration and partnerships.
4. Maintaining and creating wealth – for example helping people into employment or developing
community enterprises.

Role of the Community

The role of the community includes the following: community consultation, joint planning, joint
design, joint delivery and community-led activities.
Types of community activities:
 Asset transfer -either through formal transfer to bodies such as parish councils or community interest
companies, or transfer of their management to local community and voluntary groups
 Making better use of physical resources, such as council-owned buildings, to support community-led
activities.
 Community engagement in decision-making (for example through public engagement events where the
community helps to decide local priorities, co-design or co-commission services).
 Community networks
 Community grants

Community dynamics applies to any changes taking place within a group. Such improvements can be
made by collective action. Community shifts arise when decision makers or members take action.
 Such activities relate to the creation or advancement of goods, services and policies that
specifically support a particular community. Factors such as the needs of the society, the interests
of the citizens and the availability of resources have been addressed in the process. Community
dynamics and collective intervention fall under the umbrella of economics because they are highly
dependent on human resources [the labor force]. Those are mentioned, but it is fair to suggest that
economics plays a critical role in the understanding of community dynamics through collective
action.
Concepts and Perspectives of Community (Typologies)
Urban, Rural, Suburban, and Rurban Communities
When a community is viewed as a shared political territory and heritage, it can be classified into four
types: urban, rural, suburban, and rurban.
1. Urban communities are cities or big towns where there is a large, high-dense, and heterogeneous
population. There is not much open space in urban areas for vegetation, but space is maximized to build
public and private infrastructure such as houses, business establishments, road networks, bridges,
railways, airports, and the like. The division of labor is complex and people's occupational specialization
could be industrial, administrative, or professional. The class status of people is varied, ranging from the
very rich down to the very poor.

2. Rural Communities are territorial enclaves or villages where there is a small, low-density, and
homogeneous population. There are lots of open spaces for vegetation and the natural environment. The
use of available land if often dedicated to agriculture, and if the community is near the coast, nearby
waters are used for fisheries. The division of labor is based on agricultural or aquatic industries, supported
by farming and fishery infrastructures. The class status of people is often feudal, characterized by a
landlord and tenant relationship. The social interaction of people in rural communities is highly familiar that
it resembles intimate and close ties, which often results in a strong degree of social solidarity.

3. Suburban communities are residential or mix-used areas located at the city outskirts or within the
commuting distance of a city. Most people work in cities, but others opt to work in nearby suburban offices
or business parks. Spaces in suburban areas are devoted to housing subdivisions, small 4 to 12-floor
office buildings, business parks, and road networks leading to nearby cities where most people go to
work. The social relationships in suburban communities are dominated by nuclear family homes in small
pockets of land within the territory of their housing unit.

4. Rurban communities are communities that both have urban and rural characteristics. In the
Philippines, this happens when people from different urban slum communities are relocated to housing
settlements found on the outskirts of rural areas. Unlike those of suburban communities, such housing
settlements are difficult to access and they do not have well-developed roads leading to cities. Due to its
purpose of being relocation sites, urban communities are often places where marginalized people exist.

To sum it up:
❖ Urban communities are cities.
❖ Urban communities have massive number of people living close together in a small amount of space.
❖ In urban communities, people usually use bus, taxi, or just walk as their mode of transportation.
❖ The buildings in an urban community are often very tall and are usually called “skyscrapers”.
❖ Rural communities are called “the country” or farmland.
❖ Rural communities have fewer people, many open space and natural areas.
❖ Buildings in rural communities are more spread out than in urban.
❖ Suburban communities are usually close to, but not in cities.
❖ Suburban communities have fewer people than in urban, but more people than rural. Houses are often in
neighborhoods and many people have yards.
❖ Homes on suburban communities often have only one family living with them.
(Source: https://www.slideshare.net/clturman/community-types-urban-rural-and-suburban)

❖Despite us having contrasting behavior, we still have similarities that we can work with for us to be
better citizens in our respective community.

COMMUNITY ACTION INITIATIVES AND INTERRELATIONSHIP OF SELF AND

COMMUNITY

Community action initiatives and acknowledging interrelationship of self and the community are few of the
important components of Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship discipline that help students
recognize and appreciate their roles and responsibilities. Moreover, their skills needed to become good leaders and
active individuals in the community will also be developed.
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
-John Donne said it best
We cannot live independently at all-times, and this is the universal truth that nobody exist on its
own. We need someone and community care so that we can perform well, rise to challenges, and
overcome obstacles.

Therefore, this lesson acknowledge the Community Action Initiatives and Interrelationship of
Self and Community as mutually symbiotic from each other, for one grows with the help of the other.
Community Action includes a broad range of activities and is sometimes described as “social action”
or “community engagement.”
These activities can vary in their objective, the role the community plays, the types of activities
involved, their scale and their integration within the council. What they have in common is that they all
involve greater engagement of local citizens in the planning, design and delivery of local services.
Voluntary advocacies just like giving personal time to projects in humanitarian NGO’s or
religious groups are forms of community involvement. The engagement is generally motivated by
values and ideals of social justice.
Community engagement can be volunteering at food banks, homeless shelters, emergency
assistance programs, neighborhood clean-up programs, etc.

“The interrelationship between self and community can be seen through the principle of common good. The needs
of the people are met when the community contribute in common good.”

Securing the common good would defend upon the existence of virtuous citizens.
-By Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

Community Development and Solidarity

Heller Keller once said, "Alone, we can do so little, together, we can do so much."
Meanwhile, Victor Vicsek said: "Jack of all trades, Master of none, but often times better than a master of
one".
Both of them explained equally through wise reflections and in the breadth and depth of life experiences.
Let us cross the bridge and journey together and appreciate the importance of this lesson that the greater
good of the community may be realized through solidarity in the community.

If there will be a meaningful participation of the people in the community and collaboratively affiliate themselves,
their diversity of voices can surely identify and address issues and concerns. Therefore, a harmony of interests is
necessary so that we can synchronically glue the spirit of solidarity and willingly be of assistance in any community
outreach that will eventually happen in the community.

Forms of Community Engagement

Direct Service:
Giving personal time and energy to address immediate community needs. Examples Include
tutoring, serving food at a shelter, building or repairing homes, and neighborhood park clean‐ups.

Community Research:
Exploring a community to learn about its assets and how it is being affected by current social
problems. This form of community engagement provides knowledge that other efforts can build upon.

Advocacy and Education:

Using various modes of persuasion (e.g., petitions, marches, letter‐writing to convince government
or corporate decision‐makers) to make choices that will benefit the community. Education also includes
raising public awareness of social issues by giving speeches to community groups, distributing written
materials to the general public, or providing educational activities in schools.

Capacity Building:
Working with the diverse constituencies of a community and building on existing assets to solve
problems and making it a better place. Creating a space for everyone in the community to have a say in
what the community should be like and how to get there.
Political Involvement:
Participating in processes of government such as campaigning and voting. This includes keeping
informed about issues in the local, national, and global communities in order to voted responsibly and
engaging in discourse and debate about current social issues.

Socially Responsible Personal and Professional Behavior:

Maintaining a sense of responsibility to the welfare of others when making personal or professional
decisions in using one’s career or professional training to benefit the community. This category describes
personal lifestyle choices that reflect commitment to one’s values: recycling, driving a hybrid car, or
bicycling to work; buying or not buying certain products because of unjust corporate policies or choosing
to work for companies with socially just priorities.

Philanthropic Giving:
Donating funding or needed items; organizing or participating in fundraising events.

Participation in Associations:
Participating in community organizations that develop the social networks that provide a foundation
for community‐building efforts including civic associations, sports leagues, church choirs, and school
boards.

The Importance of Solidarity in Promoting National and Global

Community Development
Community engagement refers to the “process of working collaboratively with and through groups of
people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting
the well-being of those people” (CDC 1997, p.9).
Community engagement becomes possible through social trust, cooperation, functional coalitions, and
effective partnerships. Community engagement is a vehicle to affect societal changes because it
mobilizes resources, influences systems, and strengthens social relationships.
A core component of community engagement is solidarity. Solidarity refers to the “idea of unity or feeling
of agreement among individuals with common interest”. Through solidarity, community members deepen
their responsibilities and roles, considering their collective interests. In effect, it stimulates a sense of
obligation among individuals in a group to pursue the objectives and goals of the community and to
protect and promote the interests of a community through some agreed social action. Without solidarity,
members of a community tend to act individually, disunited, and stop from collectively engaging with
others.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOLIDARITY

• Solidarity is more than unions.
Solidarity is about more than unions. It is about working with people on the things that matter to them. It is
also about removing the boundaries that prevent us from working together. It is about believing that what
hurts my neighbor also hurts myself, that when I need a neighbor, I have no right to expect help if I have
not first helped others. It is both an emotion and a goal, a process, and a state of being. I try to tear down
the fence that prevents others from experiencing the wealth and opportunities I experienced, but I also act
for them every now and then. It is certainly true that when Solidarity goes wrong, it usually ends in
patronization or corruption.
• Solidarity is defying boundaries
These boundaries that get in the way can be race, nation, gender, wealth, indeed anything upon which a
boundary or exclusion may be created. These walls create several effects. First, that people on one side
cannot experience the privileges that are largely arbitrarily awarded to people on the other side. Second,
that those on the latter side cannot appreciate life on the first side, and therefore feel they are justified in
their current position. Third, it creates resentment, often both ways!
• Solidarity is from communication to action
Solidarity can flow from communication, but it requires action for it to become reality and present force.
Sometimes that action needs to be confrontational, to improve the lot of one group relative to another, and
sometimes it needs to be conciliatory, taking down the walls and bringing people together as equals.
Community Action in the Social Sciences Perspectives
Every social science discipline emphasizes a particular view towards collective action. For instance, from
the perspective of sociology, collective action points towards the capacity of communities to act and
behave as a social unit. It places emphasis on the interventions for forging and strengthening
interrelationships among individuals within a community. Sociology examines how a community
collectively identifies their problems, decide on the course of action, and assess whether their actions
have led to their well-being.
On the other hand, an anthropological perspective lends insights to the local history and culture of a
community as factors of community action. Anthropology puts forward the view that solutions to
community problems should be appropriate to the experiences and identity of the community.
Political science emphasizes the realities of power sharing and decision making. A political science
perspective aids in the examination of the interaction between interest groups within and outside the
community, as they express and mobilize advocacies, values, beliefs, and resources for specific interests.
Community Development
When community members are engaged in collective action, they are empowered, problems are solved,
social change occurs, and community development are said to take place.
Community development is a condition where capacity of people is enhanced, allowing them to participate
in collective action. Ultimately, this is all done to promote community welfare and well being. Isolated
projects and activities implemented in the communities that do not pursue these goals of community
development are simply community/outreach projects or activities.
The process of community development has the following characteristics:
1. It involves participation from big segment of a community
2. It is participated by well-informed members
3. It is a consensus among community members
4. It encourages capacity building among community members
5. It uses a systematic approach in addressing local concerns
6. It is an examination of community problems and issues
7. It uses processes that are flexible and may be applied to other community concerns.
8. It is initiated often because of a potential or locally perceived crisis.
Community development is pursued and achieved when citizens, by virtue of their solidarity, implement
community action. Solidarity is crucial as it strengthens the bond and unites people to act in an intensive
manner. In addition, solidarity roots from a sense of social agreement and shared consciousness.
Therefore, initiates and sustains the member’s effort. Solidarity also occurs beyond the limits of a
community, allowing people from different communities to express support, even offer capacities and
resources.
For example, after the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda in 2013 – the strongest tropical cyclone in recorded
history that hit the Philippines – the international community responded to the country’s call for help. They
expressed their solidarity and support for the Filipinos through various forms of humanitarian aid. Various
governments from Asia, Europe, and Northern America sent medicine, tents, flood, and clothing. Several
international humanitarian organizations and contingents flew to the Philippines to facilitate the repair and
reconstruction of devastated infrastructure, such as airports, roads, bridges, and telecommunication
facilities.
Domestically, communities and organizations from all around the Philippines also extended their support by raising
funds, donations, and supplies for the thousands of Filipinos in the typhoon-stricken areas. Different civil society
organizations, religious organizations, business, and youth and school groups conducted charity and donation
drives to help the victims of the typhoon.