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formations, such as families and
schools, through macro formations,
such as ethnic groups, religions, or
nation-states.
Communities need not be
geographically concentrated: for
example, the Jewish community
in New York is dispersed across
the city but nevertheless maintains
a strong sense of moral solidarity
through core institutions such
as synagogues and faith-based
schools. Etzioni even counts online
Internet-based communities as
legitimate forms of community,
provided that members are
committed to, and share, the same
values. Conversely, some classically
conceived communities, such as
villages, do not meet Etzoni’s
criteria if the aggregate of the
people comprising the village
are not bound by an obvious
commitment to shared norms
and values.
Communities are not always
virtuous: some may be harsh and
confining, or they may be founded
on shared values that are far
from ethical. Etzioni cites the
example of an Afrikaaner village
in South Africa whose members
supported and colluded in lynching.The communal society
Rather than just operating at
the intellectual level, Etzioni
proposes four aspects of how a
communitarian society should be
implemented and organized. He
does this by identifying the core
aspects of communitarian society
and the functions each one plays in
relation to the wider social whole.MODERN LIVING
The first aspect is what Etzioni
calls the “moral voice”—the
name given to the shared set of
collectively assembled norms and
values on which the interpersonal
and moral conduct that binds
community members is based.
No society can thrive without a
solid moral order, especially if
reliance on state intervention in
public matters is to be kept to a
minimum. By identifying and
establishing a moral voice, it is no
longer necessary to rely on either
individual conscience or law
enforcement agencies to regulate
the conduct of community
members. When communities
value certain behaviors—such
as avoiding alcohol abuse and not
speeding—antisocial behaviors
are prevented, and tend to be
curbed effectively.
Second is the “communitarian
family.” Bringing a child into this
world not only obligates the parents
to the child but the family to the
community too. When children are
raised poorly, the consequences
must usually be faced not just
by the family but by the entire ❯❯Communities rather than individuals are, says Etzioni, the
elemental building blocks of society, and society comprises multiple,
overlapping communities. People are therefore characteristically
members of many different intersecting communities.
NationalRegionalNeighborhoodFamilyFaithVoluntaryProfessionalTwo-parent families, Etzioni claims,
are far better equipped to undertake
the job of rearing children than
one-parent families, because it is
a “labor intensive, demanding task.”