Community (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what a community is and what its characteristics are. Also, the types of communities and Max Weber's approach.

What is a community?

A community is a set of individuals who have various elements in common such as the territory they inhabit, tasks, values, roles, language or religion. It also often happens that people group together voluntarily or spontaneously because they have a common goal.

On the other hand, the term community, In ecology, it refers to the set of living beings that inhabit a certain habitat. For example, the community of a plateau is made up of all the fungi, plants, animals and bacteria that grow there.

Communities can be formed around different elements that individuals have in common. These elements are what make up the identity of each community and that is why we can speak of various types of communities.

Some sciences that use this term are sociology, political science, epistemology, anthropology, and linguistics.

Characteristics of a community

Communities are characterized by bringing together a series of characteristics that identify them:

Identity. The members of a community share common interests, tastes or objectives. This gives the community a series of distinctive features and characteristics that build its identity.
common goal. The members of a community have objectives and goals to achieve, and everyone works towards the fulfillment of the proposed objectives.
Commitment. Commitment is one of the key values within a community. Bonds are created between its members that allow harmony and the pursuit of a joint objective.
Culture. The members share communal values (which determine what is allowed and what is not allowed within the community), customs, the same vision of the world and an education that transmits the characteristics of the community from generation to generation.
Interaction. Members of a community interact with each other. In turn, they are part of a larger society that contains them and therefore also interact with other social groups.
Dynamic. Communities are dynamic and constantly changing structures.

Types of communities

A religious community professes the same religion.

Scientific community. It is the body of scientists in its entirety, taking into account the links and interactions that exist between its members. The ties between the scientific community do not depend on working together or not, but on the links established through exchanges of ideas, research, hypotheses, conferences or specialized magazines.
religious community. It is any group of people who profess a certain religion.
Educational community. It is made up of those people who are part of the educational environment, whether it is a university, college or kindergarten. Within the educational community, the authorities of the institution, teachers, students, alumni, neighbors, and cleaning staff can be included.
Rural community. It is made up of those individuals who live and carry out their activities in the countryside. Its main activities are agriculture and livestock.
Virtual community. It is the virtual space in which a group of people meets around a common interest. This concept emerged recently with the development of the web and social networks.
Biological community. It is made up of plants, fungi and animals and humans that coexist in the same ecosystem.

«Community» according to Max Weber

The classic concept of what a “community” is was developed by the sociologist and historian Max Weber, who defines it as: “(…) a social relationship when and to the extent that is inspired by the subjective feeling (affective or traditional) of the participants of constituting a whole ”. The Methodology of the Social Sciences (The Free Press, N. York, 1949. Page 40).

This view holds that Community bonds are fundamentally based on rationality that each of its participants has and exercises for themselves, and on which they collaborate to unify and act in an associated way to achieve a common goal.