Curlie

Community Building

Community building has come to refer to a variety of intentional efforts to (a) organize and strengthen social connections or (b) build common values that promote collective goals. Literally, community building means building more community (an interim goal) as a way of achieving some set of desired outcomes (safer neighborhoods, healthier children and families, better-preserved cultural traditions, more profitable businesses, and so forth). While specific meanings vary widely depending on context, community building emphasizes the beneficial aspects of key processes (actions) that shape relationships, values, psychological attachment, and other aspects of community. As such, community building bears important connections to community organizing and community development." (Xavier de Souza Briggs) This category is for groups which directly build community and for groups which enable community building and maintenance, through actions such as providing grants or feedback. It also includes sites which discuss, criticize, or study "community".

Sites dealing with the physical structures of a community, including construction of infrastructure and housing, as well as environmental sustainability, do not belong in this category. Please check the related categories listed below, as well as local business and economy categories, for a more appropriate place to suggest the site.

Sites which focus on desired outcomes (safer neighborhoods, healthier children and families, better-preserved cultural traditions, more profitable businesses, and so forth), rather than on the goal or process of community building, should not be suggested here. Please suggest them under their issue area or location.

Neighborhood, homeowner, and tenant associations, as well as real estate developments, should be suggested in Regional under their locality.

Saul Alinsky

Born 1909, died 1972, Chicago, Illinois. "A passionate believer that social justice could be achieved through American democracy, Saul Alinsky methodically showed the 'have-nots' how to organize their communities, target the power brokers and politically out-maneuver them. The lessons he taught people about the nature of power, imparted dignity to the poor and helped create a backyard revolution in cities across America. His work influenced the struggle for civil rights and the farm workers movement, as well as the very nature of political protest." -- Independent Television Service (ITVS)