The Dictionary of Human Geography

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communism A tradition of thought based on

the principle of the communal ownership of

property(primitive communism) and com-

monownershipofthemeansofproduction(full

communism). Although traceable back to

ancient Greece, in its modern form it is most

widely associated with the writings of Karl

Marx, especially The communist manifesto

(Marx and Engels, 2002 [1848]). Writing at

the height of theindustrial revolution,

Marx observed the increasing exploitation of

newly urbanized wage labourers (the proletar-

iat), and the widening gulf between the rich and

the poor. He argued that the socio-economic

system known ascapitalismwas responsible

for the exploitation andalienationof these

labourers, and that only by transcending it

through revolutionary struggle could society

advancetoabettersystem,thatofcommunism.

In communism, all private property is abol-

ished, there are no discernible classes and the

people are self-governing. In pure communism

thestateisunnecessary,butaccording toMarx

and most of his followers, communism will be

preceded by a transitional stage calledsocial-

ism, in which the state plays a major role.

Although pure communism has never been

implemented, Marxist theories were central in

galvanizing workers’ movements in Europe in

the late nineteenth century, and socialist gov-

ernments became important players on the

world stage following the Russian Revolution

of 1917. After the Second World War, many

more communist parties came to power and

established regimes in Eastern Europe under

the aegis of the Communist Party of the Soviet

Union. The victory of Mao Zedong and the

establishment of the People’s Republic of

China in 1949 was another major turning

point in the growth and spread of communist

ideology. Other countries in Asia and Africa,

including Vietnam, North Korea, Laos,

Mozambique and Angola, adopted some form

of communist principles of government over

the following years.

With the expansion of new forms of

neo-liberalgovernance and the introduction

ofglasnost (openness) by the Soviet leader

Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, communist

ideology began to wane. Over the past decade

numerous geographers have explored the

social and spatial repercussions of the transi-

tion to a post-communist world, especially

in the former satellite countries of the USSR

(see especially Pickles and Smith, 1998;

Rainnie, Smith and Swain, 2002: seepost-

socialism). Others have interrogated the

implications of communism’s disintegration

for theory and intellectual movements (see

Burawoy, 2000). In both cases, the break-up

of state planned and regulated societies has

had enormous ripple effects, with ongoing

ramifications in the context of increasing

American dominance on the global stage.km

Suggested reading

Marx and Engels (1972 [1845]).

communitarianism Both a political and an

intellectual programme, communitarianism

affirms the values and procedures ofcommu-

nity, and rejects the political and analytical

premises of individualism, while worrying at

the effects ofindustrializationandurban-

ization on community life (Smith, D.M.J

1999a). Under the direction of writers such

as Amitai Etzioni (1994), as well as critics of

liberalism, such as Michael Sandel, commu-

nitarianism has enjoyed a resurgence in the

past decade. However, one can find precedent

in the work of those such as Emile Durkheim,

who also traced the disorganizing effects of

modernity. Contemporary communitarians

argue for a new moral and social order based

on shared values that bridge tradition, such as

moral ties of family, with modern norms of

tolerance and inclusion. nkb

community A group of people who share

commonculture,values and/or interests,

based on socialidentityand/orterritory,

and who have some means of recognizing,

and (inter)acting upon, these commonalities.

The definition is contentious, however, and

Joseph (2002) has suggested that commu-

nity is less about social identity and more

related to practices of production and con-

sumption undercapitalism. Community is

frequently used to connote ascaleat which

people can easily interact and recognize one

another, although as Anderson (1991a [1983])

argued in relation to nations, community

can be ‘imagined’ and actualized through

mediaand culture rather than interpersonal

interaction.

Thechicago schoolof sociologists saw

community as the basis for social organization,

and their usage fostered a connotation with

neighbourhood. The use and propagation of

community as related to urbanismby the

Chicago School drew upon, but also reinter-

preted, notions of community from German

sociologists such as Ferdinand To ̈nnies

(1855–1936). To ̈nnies envisioned community

(Gemeinschaft) as one’s family and intimate life,

whilesociety(Gesellschaft) was an ‘imaginary

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_C Final Proof page 103 31.3.2009 9:45pm

COMMUNITY