COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP

LESSON 1: D E F I N I T I O N A N D C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S

INTRODUCTION:
The study of community entails us to understand our very own community life the idea of how to
perceive reality by becoming involve in the It gives us the idea on how to perceive reality by
becoming involve in the day-to-day process which is socialization. In the interaction process,
people grasp the challenges of contemporary community life.

COMMUNITY
• It is where the people work, play and live.
• It is a group of people who occupy a common contiguous territory, possessed of a common set of
traditions associated with their living together in that territory, and served by a set of local
institutions in which the people are conscious of their common interest.
• derived from the Latin word communitas which means "fellowship." Its Latin roots, communis,
means "common." Com translates to "with" or "together," whereas munire translates to "to
strengthen," "to fortify," or "to defend."

TYPES OF COMMUNITY:
1. URBAN
2. RURAL
3. SUBURBAN
4. SLUM

URBAN
 Urban communities include cities.
 There are lots of people close together in a small amount of space.
 There is not very much open space in natural areas.

RURAL
 Rural communities are called "the country" composed of farmlands.
 Areas are more open spaces, and lots compared to urban areas.
 The number of people is much fewer than urban areas.

SUBURBAN
 Suburban communities are usually close to, but not in, cities.
There are fewer people than in urban communities, but many
more than in rural communities.
 Houses are often in neighborhoods and many people have yards.

SLUM
 A slum is usually a highly populated urban residential area
consisting mostly of closely packed, decrepit housing units in a
situation of deteriorated or incomplete infrastructure, inhabited
primarily by impoverished persons.
COMMUNITY IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE FOLLOWING SOCIAL
SCIENCE DISCIPLINE:
1. SOCIOLOGY
2. PSYCHOLOGY
3. ANTHROPOLOGY
4. GEOGRAPHY
5. ECONOMICS
6. ARCHAEOLOGY

SOCIOLOGY
• Community as a group who follow a social structure within a society (culture, norms,
values, status). They may work together to organize social life within a particular place, or
they may be bound by a sense of belonging sustained across time and space.

PSYCHOLOGY
• Community Psychology is a field with a unique new perspective for understanding the
individuals within their environment which includes the larger social systems that affect
their lives. It does not focus on -problems|| but rather on the strengths and competencies of
community members.

ANTHROPOLOGY
• Community' is to be characterized in terms of: (1) common interests between people; or
(2) a common ecology and locality; or (3) a common social system or structure. Hence,
communities come to be marked by a fair degree of social coherence.

GEOGRAPHY
 A community of place or place- based community is a community of people who are
bound together because of where they reside, work, visit or otherwise spend a continuous
portion of their time.

ARCHAEOLOGY
 Also known as publice Archaeology, community archaeology involves communities "in
the planning and carrying out of research projects that are of direct interest to them".
 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP
L E S S O N 2 : D I F F E R E N T P E R S P E C T I V E S O N C O M M U N I T Y

1. The Social Science Perspective

 a community is a congregation of people unified by at least one common characteristic.

 people can be unified by geography, shared interests, values, experiences or traditions.
 there is a common pattern of behavior
 The course of embracing the behavior patterns of the community is referred to as
socialization.

2. The Community-Based Perspective (Local Grassroots Level)

 community is seen as a setting for intervention, target for change, resource and agent from the
community-based perspective (Merzel and D'Afflitti, 2003), (Mc Leroy, 2003)

a) Setting for Intervention - mainly defined geographically

b) Target for Change - denotes the goal of creating healthy environment
c) Resource - a good material for promotion
d) Agent - focus on respecting and reinforcing the natural adaptive, supportive and
developmental capabilities of communities

3. The Ecological Perspective

 a community is a congregation of species that occur together in time and space and have high
probability for interaction. Social ecology, as exemplified by Bronfenbrenner (1979)
 looks at the behavior of individuals in a wide social context, which is comprised of the -
development history of the individuals, their psychological characteristics (norms, values,
attitudes) interpersonal relationships (family, social networks), neighborhood, organizations,
community, public policy, physical environment and culture.

4. The Sectoral Perspective

 communities are seen as a system which is comprised of individuals and sectors which
diverse characteristics and interrelationships (Thompson, et. Al., 1990 )
 The sectors are com-posed of groups of individuals embodying distinct roles and interests
within the community system; every sector functions within particular margins to sustain the
requirements of its members and beneficiaries.

5. The Civil Society Perspective

 Civil Society (CS) is generally defined as a wide array of nongovernmental organizations and
volunteer groups that are fighting for solutions to social issues that continue worsen the
condition of the disadvantaged sectors of society, especially the poor.
 CS is embedded in the community (Warwick and Votizwinker, 2014)
 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP
L E S S O N 3 – C o m m u n i t i e s i n Te r m s o f S t r u c t u re , D y n a m i c s
a n d P ro c e s s

NATURE OF COMMUNITY

1. Communities are groups of interacting species that occur together at the same place and time.
2. A community has fuzzy boundaries.

 When a community is little village separated by a few kilometers from other villages in a rural
area, its boundaries appear at first to be very simple. The human interaction present may be
seen as consisting only of relations among the residents living inside the village.

 If the residents interact with people outside the village, they may, for example, marry persons
from other places and move or bring a spouse in to live with them. At any given time, those
village residents may have sisters, brothers, cousins, parents, and relatives living elsewhere.
The boundary of the community is no longer that precise.

3. A community can exist within a larger community

 There may be communities within larger communities, including districts, regions, ethnic
groups, nations, and other boundaries. There may be marriages and other interactions that link
the villages of a nation together.

4. A community may move

 When technology is not based on local horticulture, the community residents may be
physically mobile. They may be nomadic herders walking long distances with their cattle.
They may be mobile fishing groups who move from time to time to where the fish are
available. They may be hunters who move to follow the game.

Community Dynamics

COMMUNITY DYNAMICS is the process of change, growth, and development in communities

involving all of its members. It gives us an understanding of the communities' NEEDS, members'
involvement and decision making, social network, services, and policies present and needed for the
continuous progress of the community.

Focus of Community Dynamics

 Community Power Relations - "potential capacity for action", deal with the community's
capacity to control their activities and resources.

o Leadership - taking part in carrying out shared objectives

- Qualities: Experienced, Well-versed in community matters, good representation of
all socio-economic group, understanding of different points of view, work in overcoming
challenges and attaining goals.

 Social Change - is the change in the mechanism of social structure like in community. It is
characterized by alterations of cultural attitudes and values, behaviour, and social
organizations. It is brought about by natural, cultural, religious, political and economic forces.
Structure of Community Power

Power in a community is the capacity to influence the decision-making and distribution processes, to
bring about change and get things done. The idea of power includes determining the structure that have
impact on local communities and also the linkages that form collaborative works.

Process of Community

 The essence is a process by which task accomplishment programs in many, ideally

all, areas of the common local life are:

- (1) strengthened through having access to local resources, such as people, material and good wishes,
outside the immediate interest group; and

- (2) integrated with other efforts so that the structure and well-being of the community as a whole are
enhanced.

 Leadership plays a very important role in this generalizing process. It includes

behavior of all those who participate in bringing about across-the-board development.
 People participating in several interest fields and carrying on relationships with
people in other interest areas are the conductors and actualizers of the generalizing
process.
 In most communities the number of highly generalized leaders is small; but for the
generalizing process to be effective, the network of integrating relationships must be
broad and include many in less visible roles.
 A community can be considered like an organism because it can function even if
people come and go. (Bartle, 2010)
 "a community is a super-organic organism or system|| made up of the thoughts,
outlook and conduct of individual human beings full of di-visions and conflicts
brought about by differences in religion, ethnicity, gender, access to re-sources, class,
educational level, income level, ownership of properties, language, personality,
opportunities, and a lot more." (Bartle, 2010)
 This reality indicates that to work in a community or to undertake community
interventions is a challenging task.
 One must get to know first and foremost the community system. How does the
community work? What are the structures and the different dimensions of the
community?
 One must observe how the community acts and reacts to forces that are external and
internal to its system. Development works requires understanding community
dynamics and processes.
 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP
L E S S O N 4 – T Y P O L O G I E S O F C O M M U N I T Y

CLASSIFICATION OF COMMUNITIES

1. Rural-Urban
 This classification is basically geographical in nature.
 Rural areas are separate and away from the influence of large cities and towns. It is known as
the countryside, farmland, or agricultural land.
 Urban areas, on the other hand, are called cities or towns.

2. Local-Global

 Guy (2009) further described global and local communities as the two opposite side of
distinction.
 This distinction is used in communication as a code to produce information about people and
culture. The challenge is to be cognizant of social realities and regard local culture in the
advent of localization.
 Think globally, act locallyll presses people to consider the situation of the entire planet and to
take action locally, in their communities and cities.
 Refers to "specialized networks of social relations."
 -not spatial structures but different representations of space competing against each other in a
process to determine the society of that society (Guy, 2009 as cited in Shanyana and
Endofirepi, 2015)

3. Physical Space-Virtual Social Space

 A social space is either physical or virtual like an online social media or a center or gathering
place where people interact.

Types of Communities

1. Geogrophic Community or Neighborhood

 Focuses on the physical boundaries that make it distinct or separate, such as a river or a street.
It has a diverse population with individuals or groups occupying different physical spaces and
each with special attributes such as religion, economic status, etc.

2. Community of Identity
 This community has common identifiable characteristics or attributes like culture, language,
music, religion, customs, and others.

3. Community of Interest or Solidarity

 This community incorporates social movements such as women's rights, environment, peace,
and human rights. Individuals may be connected to their community of interest at the local
and international levels. It may also be formal or informal or both.

4. International Community
 This community refers to individuals that come together voluntarily and support each other.
Members may share the same interest and identity or geographical location.
 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOLIDARITY AND CITIZENSHIP
L E S S O N 5 – C O M M U N I T Y A C T I O N

Community Action

 Is a manifestation of a collective grasp and ownership of a situation that generally has an

effect on them.
 A community of people who are experiencing the same situation tend to connect with each
other and pursue a common goal and action.

Ingredients of Community Action

1. Common context - People live in a similar setting and/or locality; "building a common lens"
2. Common experience-People encounter a comparable experience individually or collectively; "common
sentiment"
3. Common understanding of an issue - People have more or less a similar view of the issue at hand;
"from feeling to thinking"
4. Common Analysis-People went through a process of analyzing the issue and may have similar take on
the issue, partly or in a whole; "understanding of the issue on a certain perspective based on core values
and principles"
5. An acceptable standard-People usually establish a minimum standard in undertaking an action together;
"process of reaching compromises, setting minimum standards, and targeting bottom lines"

Mobilization of Community

 this phase is the step of gathering people to meet regularly, discuss community problems, plan as a
community, formulate implementing mechanisms, identify community leaders and organizational
structures, and develop systems.

Organization

 This is the -bolt-inll phase where all the resources, material or nonmaterial, process or product, soft or
hard technology, and physical and spiritual are mapped out and consolidated.

On Education

 This is the skills development or human resource enhancement phase. Members are provided with
necessary skills, knowledge, and orientation.

The process of reaching the level of a community that pursues an advocacy together is not an easy task.

- Different perspectives

- Different experiences

- Diverse values and backgrounds

Agents of Communities facilitate the process

Qualities of Agents of Communities

1. Know the community issue

2. Analyze the issue from different perspective

3. Identify and get to know the relevant community structures and systems.

4. Identify and get to know the players

5. Identify community power actors

6. Trace connections

- Know people's emotions

Forms of Community Action

1. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The ASEAN University Network (AUN) follows the definition given by the Indiana University-Purude
University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Center for Service Learning. Community Engagement has a four-part
definition:

 active collaboration
 builds on the resources, skills, and expertise and knowledge of the campus and community.
 improves the quality of life in the communities
 in a manner that is consistent with the campus missions

2. CITIZENSHIP
 denotes membership of a citizen in a political society
 implies a duty of allegiance on the part of the member and the duty of protection on the part of the
state.
 A citizen, on the other hand, refers to a member of a democratic community who enjoys full civil and
political rights and is accorder protection inside and outside the territory of the state (De Leon, 1997).

3. SOLIDARITY
 about regarding our fellow human beings justify and respecting who they are as persons (BJPI, 2007)
 person is in connection with other people, with the society and with environment.