The Library
Studying the particular, illuminating the general: community studies and community in Wales
Tools
UNSPECIFIED (2005) Studying the particular, illuminating the general: community studies and community in Wales. SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW, 53 (4). pp. 672-690. ISSN 0038-0261.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Abstract
This article is inspired by Frankenberg's ( 1990) claim that the best way to understand general social processes is through the study of their manifestation in the details of social life. We look at how studies of community that have been carried out in Wales, particularly Village on the Border and The Family and Social Change (Rosser and Harris, 1965), have accomplished this link between the particular and the general. We then consider the findings of our own research, which is a restudy of Rosser and Harris, showing how they provide a counterbalance to grand theoretical claims about the transformations that are affecting community and family life. We find that although factors such as increasing geographical mobility and women's greater participation in paid work affect people's experiences of community, people continue to place a high value on what they call communities. Such communities are spoken about and defined in different ways but all are based on local social networks of kin, neighbours and friends and/or locally-based associations. They are also gendered, with women playing a key role at both informal and formal levels of community. We suggest that the apparent resilience of local social relations evident in our research may help to explain the continued cultural and political resonance of community in Wales.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW | ||||
Publisher: | BLACKWELL PUBLISHING | ||||
ISSN: | 0038-0261 | ||||
Official Date: | November 2005 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Volume: | 53 | ||||
Number: | 4 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 19 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 672-690 | ||||
Publication Status: | Published |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |