Editing Community (section)

===Building and organizing===
[[File:Affinity group collateral damage.jpg|thumb|upright|The anti-war [[affinity group]] "Collateral Damage" [[Activism|protesting]] the [[Iraq War]]]]

In ''The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace'' (1987) [[M. Scott Peck|Scott Peck]] argues that the almost accidental sense of community that exists at times of crisis can be consciously built. Peck believes that conscious community building is a process of deliberate design based on the knowledge and application of certain rules.<ref>[[M. Scott Peck]], (1987). ''The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace'', pp. 83–85.</ref> He states that this process goes through four stages:<ref>Peck (1987), pp. 86–106.</ref>

# '''Pseudocommunity''': When people first come together, they try to be "nice" and present what they feel are their most personable and friendly characteristics.
# '''Chaos''': People move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their "shadow" selves. <!-- term not previously defined, or mentioned: This stage places great demands upon the FACILITATOR for greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that "organizations are not communities", and this pressure should be resisted. -->
# '''Emptiness''': Moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledging their own woundedness and brokenness, common to human beings.
# '''True community''': Deep respect and true listening for the needs of the other people in this community.
<!-- unsourced editorializing: This stage Peck believes can only be described as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.-->

In 1991, Peck remarked that building a sense of community is easy but maintaining this sense of community is difficult in the modern world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community-a-definition-and-theory |title=Sense of Community: A Definition and Theory — Dr. David McMillan |access-date=2022-12-29 |archive-date=2022-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229114933/https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community-a-definition-and-theory |url-status=live }}</ref> An interview with M. Scott Peck by Alan Atkisson. ''In Context'' #29, p.&nbsp;26.
The three basic types of community organizing are [[grassroots]] organizing, [[coalition]] building, and "institution-based community organizing", (also called "broad-based community organizing", an example of which is [[faith-based community|faith-based community organizing]], or [[Congregation-based Community Organizing]]).<ref>Jacoby Brown, Michael, (2006), ''Building Powerful Community Organizations: A Personal Guide To Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World'' (Long Haul Press)</ref>

Community building can use a wide variety of practices, ranging from simple events (e.g., [[potluck]]s, small [[Book discussion club|book clubs]]) to larger-scale efforts (e.g., mass [[festival]]s, [[construction]] projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors).

Community building that is geared toward citizen action is usually termed "community organizing".<ref name=organizing>Walls, David (1994) [http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml "Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115100115/http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml |date=2010-11-15 }}. From ''The Workbook'', Summer 1994, pp. 52–55. Retrieved on: June 22, 2008.</ref> In these cases, organized community groups seek accountability from elected officials and increased direct representation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faith negotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, [[boycott]]ing, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. <!-- unsourced examples: The [[ARISE Detroit!]] coalition and the [[Toronto Public Space Committee]] are examples of [[activism|activist networks]] committed to shielding local communities from government and corporate domination and inordinate influence.-->

Community organizing can focus on more than just resolving specific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessible power structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equally throughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groups facilitate and encourage [[consensus decision-making]] with a focus on the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alinsky |first=Saul D |title="Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals" |publisher=1971}}</ref>

If communities are developed based on something they share in common, whether location or values, then one challenge for developing communities is how to incorporate individuality and differences. Rebekah Nathan suggests{{according to whom|date=October 2018}} in her book, ''My Freshman Year'', we are drawn to developing communities totally based on sameness, despite stated commitments to diversity, such as those found on university websites.