CES 140 Week 3: Defining & Theorizing Community

CES 140 Week 3: Defining & Theorizing Community

Extra Credit Reminder

  • Submission Requirements: Students can submit 2 event summaries. Each summary should establish a connection with at least 1 reading from the class.

Extra Credit Example Event

  • Event: Centennial Symposium

    • Title: A Century of Labor Education at the School for Workers

    • Date: Friday, September 19, 2025

    • Time: 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

    • Location: UW-Madison Pyle Center AT&T Lounge

    • Cost: Free and open to all, requiring pre-registration online by September 4, 2025, for a free tote bag and refreshments ticket.

    • Post-Registration: Registration remains open after September 4 (without tote/refreshments), and walk-ins are welcome.

  • Agenda:

    • 1:00 p.m.: Welcome

    • 1:15 p.m.: Bridging the Gap: Academic-Labor Partnerships for Change (Roundtable discussion)

    • 2:15 p.m.: Break

    • 2:30 p.m.: From Campus to Community: Advancing Labor Scholarship at UW (Panel)

    • 3:30 p.m.: Break

    • 3:45 p.m.: A Century of Empowering Workers: Lessons Learned (Panel) discussed by guests:

      • Karen Romo: Student and President, UW Voces

      • Carolina Sarmiento: Associate Professor, Civil Society & Community Studies, UW-Madison

      • Luis Velazquez: Organizer, Voces de la Frontera

Introduction to Social Groups

Overview

  • Importance of Groups: Groups serve as the foundation for building social lives, possessing both positive and negative impacts on members.

  • Types of Social Entities: Discussion includes social groups, categories, and aggregates.

Definitions of Social Entities

  • Social Groups: Collections of people who regularly interact based on mutual expectations and share a common identity (e.g., families, friendships, classrooms, clubs, workplaces).

  • Social Categories: Groups defined by at least one shared attribute (e.g., race, gender, geographical residence) where individuals do not necessarily interact (e.g., "Women", "Asian Americans", "Wisconsinites").

  • Social Aggregate: A collection of individuals present in the same location at the same time, lacking deeper interactions (e.g., crowds at sports games, movie theaters).

Classification of Groups

Primary vs Secondary Groups

  • Primary Groups:

    • Characteristics: Small, extensive interaction, strong emotional ties, endure over time, can have both positive and negative impacts (e.g., families).

    • Examples: Family units, close friendships cross categorical boundaries.

  • Secondary Groups:

    • Characteristics: Larger, less emotional connection, more impersonal interactions.

    • Examples: Religious organizations, businesses, governmental institutions.

Group Dynamics and Their Implications

  • Group Loyalty and Pride: Members develop loyalty and pride, e.g., participation in fraternal organizations, sports teams, or gangs.

  • In-Group Competitions: Situations where members compete with one another.

  • Norm Setting: Groups establish standards for members' behavior and attitudes.

  • Out-Group Attitudes: In-groups can foster negative perceptions towards out-groups which may lead to exclusionary attitudes.

  • Relative Deprivation: Reference groups define standards of comparison, leading to feelings of deprivation among members if perceived as lacking.

Roles, Conformity, and Social Stability

  • Conformity Induction: Groups enforce conformity to their norms, values, and larger societal expectations.

  • Peer Pressure: Members may conform to avoid alienation, often doubting personal perceptions based on group pressures.

Psychological Experiments Related to Group Dynamics

  • Stanley Milgram's Experiment: Demonstrated obedience with authority figures leading individuals to inflict discomfort on others.

  • Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971): Explored how situational influences and group dynamics can lead individuals to harmful behaviors.

Defining Community

Flexible Concept

  • Definition: Community represents a malleable concept with varying implications for social dynamics and outcomes.

Reflection Questions on Community

  • What comes to your mind when you think of "community"?

  • Consider associated words or images with the concept.

  • Identify communities you belong to and discuss their influence on your values and norms.

  • Explore the political implications of terms like "family" or "community".

Understanding Community According to Patricia Hill Collins

  • Key Sociologist: Patricia Hill Collins, known for the book "Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment."

  • Concepts explored include:

    • Gemeinschaft (community): Close-knit relationships among people with shared values.

    • Gesellschaft (civil society): Modern society where self-interest supersedes traditional bonds.

    • Critiques of traditional community concepts as politically neutral and a mode of homogenization.

Family and Community

  • Explores how the concept of community is often refracted through the family structure.

  • Warning: Views family as a natural and ideal form of social relations mask underlying power structures.

Importance of Studying Communities

  • Community serves not just as physical organization but as a conceptual framework for understanding power dynamics.

  • Associated with the construction of various identities (racial, ethnic, religious) through inclusionary/exclusionary practices.

  • Emphasizes the political nature of communities as sites for both engagement and contestation.

Characteristics of Community Relevant to Inequality

  • The language around community shapes perceptions of social places and arrangements.

  • Community definitions can range from place-based neighborhoods to shared cultural identities, sometimes obscuring diversity.

  • Important to understand varying connotations and implications for inclusion and exclusion in community discourse.

Mapping New Politics of Community

Contemporary Sites of Community

  1. Gated Communities:

    • Represent both metaphor and reality for social inequalities and security interests.

    • Growing trends toward privatization of public space.

    • Elites returning to private spaces contributing to social divides.

  2. Grassroots Politics:

    • Using community not as a shelter but as a platform for collective action.

    • Reframing social issues in terms of community campaigns facilitates political organization.

  3. Imagined Communities:

    • Suggest interconnectedness beyond direct interaction, where concepts of citizenship prompt sacrifices for collective benefit.

    • Impact of new technologies on community engagement, leading to rapid dissemination of ideas.

  4. Citizenship and Community Service:

    • Examines community service as a lens on citizenship overshadowed by societal inequalities.

    • Analyzes the disparities in visibility and value placed on different forms of service.

  5. Complexities of Community Organizing:

    • Focus on community work that addresses broader social issues contrasted with service-based organizing.

    • Emphasizes crafting political solidarities around identity categories.

Learnings from Contemporary Community Contexts

  • Communities illustrate the dynamics of human interaction and negotiation of social relationships.

  • They help individuals navigate social changes and advocate for broader political goals.

  • Difficult to define but easily invoked in discourse, emphasizing the ongoing processes of inclusion/exclusion.

Community Application Task

  • Choose a social crisis (e.g., war, health, poverty) and analyze the role community plays in addressing the issue.

  • Explore aspects such as existing organizations, campaigns, activism, participants, and effectiveness of responses.

Example Case Study from Hill Collins

  • Social Crisis: Lynching

    • Activism: Ida Wells-Barnett spearheaded anti-lynching campaigns via editorials and pamphlets.

    • Focused on the need for legal and social status changes for African Americans to ensure safety.

    • Philosophical Grounding: Emphasized viewing individuals as part of a larger community rather than statistical subjects.

Hill Collins' Insights on Community

  • Recognizes community as a site for affirmation and political expression along with risks of harmful ideologies supporting protective language.

  • Advocates for communities as analytical units to unveil social inequities and engage with the political fabric of society.