Community has been studying by many scholars with various aspects for a long time. Among these scholars, scholars who took the lead for development of community concepts were Toennies and Durkheim. Toennies explicated the types of community: gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. Gemeinschaft is the community which focuses on interaction among the community’s members. Gesellschaft is the community which seeks members’ profits. Using the author’s term, gemeinschaft represents the childhood of humanity and gesellschaft its maturity. Toennies defined characteristics of these two types as the following;
Gemeinschaf is associated with:
- common ways of life,
- common beliefs,
- concentrated ties and frequent interaction,
- small numbers of people,
- distance from centers of power,
- familiarity,
- continuity, and
- emotional bonds
Gesellschaft is associated with:
- dissimilar ways of life,
- dissimilar beliefs,
- dispersed ties and infrequent interaction,
- large numbers of people,
- proximity to centers of power,
- rules to overcome distrust,
- temporary arrangements, and
- regulated competition
That is to say, gemeinschaft is higher homogeneous than gesellschaft. Perhaps major communities used to be gemeinschaft in the pre-modern society.
On the other hand, Durkheim analyzed community with variable properties that the community had and his approach is called disaggregating approach. Variables that Durkheim used are structural and cultural variables. Structural variables are; (1) dense and demanding social ties, (2) social attachments to and involvements in institutions, (3) ritual occasions, and (4) small group size. Cultural variables are; (1) perceptions of similarity with the physical characteristics, expressive style, way of life, or historical experience of others, and (2) common beliefs in an idea system, a moral order, an institution, or a group. If combining Toennies’ formulation with Durkheim’s approach, we could analyze each community more detail.
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