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Apologies for double posting, but this just out. Includes entries by a
number of us on the list-serve, and Barry W. is an editor.
A particular good tool for students, but more advanced researchers as well,
looking to get up to speed quickly on the many corners of this vast field
(or field of fields). Info and kudos--from Robert Bellah, Robert Putnam,
and others--below.
Best -- Xav
Xavier de Souza Briggs
Associate Professor of Public Policy
Harvard University
_____________________________________________________________________
ENCLYCLOPEDIA OF COMMUNITY:
From the Village to the Virtual World (4 volumes)
Edited by Karen Christensen, David Levinson, et al.
Berkshire Publishing/Sage Reference, 2003
See http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/brw/product.asp?ProjID=18
Community, a subject that lies at the heart of dozens of social initiatives
and academic endeavors, has at last been explored in a resource large
enough
to encompass its variety and complexity. The Encyclopedia of Community:
from
the Village to the Virtual World is the creation of a global team of nearly
400 scholars and professionals who developed, in only 18 months, a work of
1.2-million words in four volumes, containing over 500 articles. The
encyclopedia captures the fullness of our deep and contradictory responses
to community, drawing on the work of historians, sociologists,
anthropologists, town planners, and experts from a variety of other
disciplines and some twenty countries.
Community is a subject that touches every one of us. It is a concept and an
experience, and it has been a central part of being human from prehistoric
times to the present. Even though we live in an age of social
fragmentation,
mass media, globalization, and individualism, we yearn to be connected. A
growing body of research shows that without adequate communities we - and
children in particular - suffer from personal and social ills that include
depression, poor health, and crime.
As result, there have never been so many efforts to build, restore, find,
or
study community. Some of these efforts reflect a longing for an earlier era
when, we imagine, we shared common values and dreams. Many images of
community -- trick-or-treating in handmade costumes, World War II victory
gardens, the Queen's Jubilee street parties -- are nostalgic. But there is
a
huge array of contemporary efforts - community health networks, online
support groups, book clubs, community supported agriculture, and cohousing
-
designed to create community in the 21st century.
The Encyclopedia of Community was designed and developed by Berkshire
Publishing Group, in Great Barrington, MA, and published by Sage Reference,
of Thousand Oaks, CA. General editors Karen Christensen and David Levinson
of Berkshire Publishing drew together an editorial board of leading
scholars, including Ray Oldenburg, author of The Great Good Place, and
Thomas Sander, executive director of the Saguro Seminar at Harvard.
Over half the articles are accompanied by sidebars drawn from fiction,
primary texts, and ethnography. The Encyclopedia of Community also
includes: a 4,800-item Master Bibliography of Community; a Community in
Popular Culture database of 800 books, movies, television programs, and
more; an extensive Resource Guide tied to 21 areas of the encyclopedia's
coverage, from "Connection to Place" and "Internet and Cybercommunities" to
"Social Capital" and "Volunteerism."
The encyclopedia can be ordered from Sage Reference at www.sagepub.com
<http://www.sagepub.com>.
Further information, including a list of articles and contributors and
sample articles, is available at
<http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/brw/product.asp?ProjID=18>
Community in Popular Culture is at present available free of charge at
www.berkshirepublishing.com/cpc <http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/cpc>
By kind permission of Frances Moore Lappé, we also present extracts from
the
archives of the American News Service, a project of the Center for Living
Democracy. The full archives are being made available to researchers by
Berkshire Publishing Group and Ms. Lappé at
<http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/ans>
"A timely, comprehensive, and very welcome overview of a
rich and rapidly growing field of inquiry."--Robert D. Putnam, professor at
Harvard University and author of Bowling Alone
"As we yearn to connect with our fellow citizens during
these uncertain times, we have a unique moment to encourage greater
participation in our democracy and reinvigorate our communities. The
Encyclopedia of Community provides a timely, diverse array of theories and
practices that will help citizens understand the value of engaging together
to make the critical choices that enrich the way we live, learn, work and
govern in our local communities. The Encyclopedia deserves a prime spot in
the libraries, homes, and offices of all communities that want to invest in
a brighter future for their residents and their children."--Nancy Kranich,
Past President of the American Library Association, whose presidential
theme
was "Libraries: The Cornerstone of Democracy"
"The great value of this new encyclopedia is that it gives
readers a chance to sample the many uses of the term community and gain
clarity about the issues at stake. It is a major contribution to a more
coherent understanding of this fundamental idea."-Robert Bellah, Professor
of Sociology, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley and coauthor of
Habits of the Heart
Karen Christensen, CEO
Berkshire Publishing Group LLC
314 Main Street, Suite 12, Great Barrington, MA 01230 U.S.A.
Telephone +413/528.0206 - Facsimile +413/528.5241
-----
Berkshire Publishing Group is a knowledge and technology company
providing original and innovative global content. Berkshire develops
encyclopedias, trade books, e-books, databases, and branded web content
for print publishing, educational, and new media markets.
A global point of reference . . . <http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/>
_____________________________________________________________________
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