Network society and the politics of community

This paper draws on the structure of Wellman’s (1979) ‘Community Question’ to examine the rise and implications of the ‘politics of community’, particularly as it pertains to social space and geographic place. The ‘Community Question’ incorporates three perspectives that have underpinned community research and theories since the industrial revolution: Community Lost, Community Saved and Community Liberated. Where both the Lost and Saved paradigms commence their examination of community from the position of geographical propinquity, the Liberated paradigm examines community from a perspective of social ties and networks in social space. Communication enhancing technology has changed the structure and nature of social ties in contemporary society, allowing certain individuals and groups greater movement and control over their networks and mobility, while conversely causing the stasis and exclusion of others. With reference to the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ the second part of this paper examines the implications for two cases of sedentarist government strategies which have been captured by the ‘politics of community’: the Building Stronger Communities (2007) policy of the NSW Department of Housing and the development of ‘Masterplanned Communities’ by Landcom, the NSW Government’s land agency