Community (PDF)

'Community' is one of those words that feels good: it is good 'to
have a community', 'to be in a community'. And 'community' feels
good because of the meanings which the word conveys, all of them
promising pleasures, and more often than not the kind of pleasures
which we would like to experience but seem to miss.

'Community' conveys the image of a warm and comfortable place, like
a fireplace at which we warm our hands on a frosty day. Out there,
in the street, all sorts of dangers lie in ambush; in here, in the
community, we can relax and feel safe. 'Community' stands for the
kind of world which we long to inhabit but which is not,
regrettably, available to us. Today 'community' is another name for
paradise lost - but for a paradise which we still hope to find, as
we feverishly search for the roads that may lead us there.

But there is a price to be paid for the privilege of being in a
community. Community promises security but seems to deprive us of
freedom, of the right to be ourselves. Security and freedom are two
equally precious and coveted values which could be balanced to some
degree, but hardly ever fully reconciled. The tension between
security and freedom, and between community and individuality, is
unlikely ever to be resolved. We cannot escape the dilemma but we
can take stock of the opportunities and the dangers, and at least
try to avoid repeating past errors.

In this important new book, Zygmunt Bauman takes stock of these
opportunities and dangers and, in his distinctive and brilliant
fashion, offers a much-needed reappraisal of a concept that has
become central to current debates about the nature and future of
our societies.