Community, Sense of

Community and Globalization

Paradoxically, as globalization has become more prominent in the last years of the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first century, the idea of community has also become more relevant. “Globalization reflects a widespread perception that the world is rapidly being moulded into a shared social space by economic and technological forces … developments in one region of the world have profound consequences for the life chances of individuals or communities on the other side of the globe … the sheer scale of contemporary social and economic change appears to outstrip the capacity of national governments or citizens to control, contest or resist that change”” (Held et al. 1999, p. 1). Political scientist David Held has argued that globalization does not always lead to integration or to the development of progressive, homogeneous, or unified societies. In fact, he argues, globalization may actually encourage disintegrative forces and promote fragmentation in some parts of the world. When this occurs, governments or supranational organizations (such as the European Union, the World Bank, and the United Nations) often invoke policies that they hope will strengthen local communities, particularly in less developed regions of the world. Thus, even as globalization weakens communities, global organizations sometimes seek to strengthen them. As the world has become more homogeneous and global capitalism more dominant, people have sought all the more eagerly for a sense of community, for the reestablishment of the importance of the local. Interestingly, the terrorist attack on New York City's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, which was interpreted by some as an attack on global capitalism, spurred many Americans to increase their contribution to their local communities and their engagement, in general, with civic society. Robert Putnam, well known for his work on social capital, has shown how the stock of social capital has increased since the terrorist attack.