The Ties that Bind: Building Communities in the 21st Century
Plenary session at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology
March 29, 2001 (Merida, Mexico)
Co-sponsored by SAR and the Society for Applied Anthropology
Nine papers were presented at the plenary session on
"The Ties that Bind: Building Communities in the 21st Century," which was conducted March 29, at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Merida, Mexico. The session was chaired by Stan Hyland of the University of Memphis, who attributed its success to the Community Building Planning Session conducted at SAR in July 2000, during which participants discussed their proposed papers and planned the agenda for the upcoming session. The nine papers that comprised the three-hour plenary session were divided into the following three sections:
Part 1 Rethinking Our Concepts of Community, Community Development, and Community Building
Mary Catherine Bateson
Department of Anthropology, George Mason University
"'Our Kind of People?' Communities of Inclusion and Discovery"
John Van Willigen
Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
"Community Assets in the Community Development Process: A Historic Comparison of Theories of Practice"
Francisco Fernandez
Facultad de Ciencias Antropologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan
"Revisiting Community Development Process: A Historic Comparison of Theories of Practice"
Part 2 Expanding our Use of Community to New Settings
Anthony Oliver-Smith
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida
"Communities after Catastrophe: Reconstituting the Social, Reconstructing the Material"
Marietta Baba
Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University
"Virtual Community: An Oxymoron at Work?"
Part 3 Developing New Approaches, Methods, and Tools for Community Building
Jody Kretzmann
Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
"Building Communities from the Inside Out: The Meaning and Significance of an Assets Approach"
Noel J. Chrisman
School of Nursing, University of Washington
"Community Building for Health"
Jean J. Schensul
Institute for Community Research, Hartford, CT
"Building Community Research Capacity through Action Research for Social Change"
Stan Hyland
College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Memphis
"Bridging the Digital Divide: Developing New Approaches to Strengthening Local Communities through Redesigning Information Systems"
Abstract
During the past four generations, the concept of community—long a focal point for social science research and action—has changed in both use and application. Growing economic inequity, natural and human disasters, as well as political and economic policies have mobilized local communities in a variety of contexts. Today, foundations, government agencies, corporations, universities, and other stakeholders have joined local communities in focusing resources and energies on community building efforts. As a result, a variety of approaches have emerged that can assist local communities in addressing change. These approaches include relationship building, conflict resolution, computer technology, participatory action research, mapping community assets, capabilities, and resources to strengthen communities.
