Building Community
We can’t save the world, but we can love our neighbour. And, I think that’s kinda the same thing.
- Caroline J Sumlin
It’s another beautiful yet terrifying day on planet earth. In the news this week we have been bombarded with a barrage of terrible things happening everywhere we look. Trump has made a series of worrying moves - from signing executive orders to end DEI, to announcing his desire to buy Greenland and takeover the Gaza strip. It’s all a bit depressing isn’t it?
And yet, it is critically important that we remain engaged so that we can create positive action. Last week, I was reminded of just this - when I attended a wonderful women’s community dinner. So in the spirit of resistance and disruption, in this newsletter I want to focus on one thing that we can be doing to make life better for each other: building community.
We can find community in every part of life; from local allotments, to friendship groups. Community psychologists Mah and Carpenter (2016) define community as “a social unit (or group of living things) that share something in common, such as customs, identifying characteristics, values, beliefs, or norms.” In essence, to be part of a community is to feel a sense of belonging, affiliation and identification with a particular social group. And while community can often be thought of in terms of proximity (i.e. the school PTA), it can be also extend beyond localities to participation in broader social categories (such as the queer community). Given the sheer breadth of the term community, all of us have the potential to be active participants in the types of communities that resonate with us.
Yet many individuals face increasing loneliness and social isolation (over 1/4 adults in the UK report feeling always or very often lonely; ONS, 2024). This is a startling trend. One might attribute this to the perceived decline of community over the past 50+ years. Perhaps exacerbated by a loss of public and local social spaces (Goulden, 2024), and the distraction that the internet and social media brings (though I note that social media provides many younger individuals with community; Gudka, Gardiner, & Lomas, 2021). I am not ashamed to admit that it feels evermore difficult to make new friends IRL. It seems that the days of being seamlessly embedded into your local community, and best friends with your neighbours, are - for many individuals - behind us.
A recent Guardian article by journalist Elle Hunt really hit the nail on the head, when they powerfully wrote about the desire for community, and the sheer effort it takes to achieve it in a hyper-individualistic society. To build community requires consistency and commitment, which can be overwhelming. But the benefits of putting in the time to nurture community are manifold - they include enhanced mental and physical health, and increased social capital (Putnam et al., 2004).
A key element of belonging to a community is that you identify with the norms, beliefs, values (and so forth) of that group. We are wading into classic social identity theory here - which describes the way we navigate the world and understand ourselves in terms of the social groups we are members of (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Social identity is so powerful that arbitrary groups, and even large crowds can evoke what is known as collective identification - this is a transformation of our identity from “personal to social level identification” (Neville & Reicher, 2011). Take Billie Eilish fans at a Billie Eilish concert. When they perceive that others share their salient social identity, they shift from ‘I am a Billie Eilish fan’ to ‘we are Billie Eilish fans’. This can create enormous emotional transformation too, where individuals can feel collectively euphoric, joyful, connected, and with a desire to move towards shared goals. We can think of this latter point as ‘collective action’.
Ironically, Trump has been quite successful in creating rallies where individuals feel a sense of shared identity, and a validation of beliefs. The real question is why the left has failed to create the same sense of collective identification?
When it comes to taking a stand against corruption, oppression, and other moral and ethical issues, we are in dire need of more collective action within our progressive communities. This can include any number of galvanising strategies such as attending protests, signing government petitions, attending town hall consultations; not only “militant forms of intergroup behaviour such as revolts and strikes” (Simon et al., 1989).
Though notably, engaging in collective action that involves collaboration with decision-makers (such as deliberative democracy, or participatory action research), can only do so much. The most powerful forms of collective action require individuals to create the change that is desperately needed, rather than asking for it, or capitulating to a form of a change deemed acceptable by those in power. When we think about social justice issues that changed the world for the better, such as the Suffragette and Civil Rights movements of the 20th century, these movements were unapologetic and non-negotiable. The people demanded change.
When global inequities start widening, and those in power begin to further stack the chips against us, we need to turn towards grassroots movements as a means to dissent. According to Christens and colleagues (2021) grassroots organising is “a uniquely necessary approach for contending with the persistent and escalating socioeconomic inequities that manifest as disparities across many societal domains”. What sets grassroots movements aside from general collective action is the use of strategic disruption, and non-negotiable demands.
When organised efficiently and with intent, individuals within any community can come together to build social power. Such power can be used to create positive social change via sustained collective action - not one off initiatives - but systematic and structured activity. However this structured organising has been significantly hampered in modern times, due to technological advancements and a general erosion in the competency of public institutions. As Christens and colleagues note:
“The ongoing decline of local media and the rise of social and hyperpartisan media serve to scatter attention, generating frequent bursts of outrage but often distracting from the kind of steady committed involvement that is critical to successful organizing efforts.”
- Christens and colleagues, 2021
So what next? If we want to see a fairer and more just world, we need to demand it!
💪🏽 Start by building community with likeminded individuals; this can be through organised groups such as the The London Community Foundation, or Right to Thrive London, or smaller local communities such as meetup groups for specific hobbies. You can even find your tribe in online spaces! One powerful way to create your own community is through storytelling.
📣 Use your voice to tell your story and galvanise your community towards collective action. Protest is more important than ever! Despite recent crackdowns on the right to protest peacefully, activism is still a profoundly effective tool in our arsenal.
📖 Educate yourself on evidence-based, strategic ways to create change. ‘The Art of Subordination’ by Professor Todd Kashdan from George Mason University is one particularly useful guide to effective dissenting & creating sustainable social change.