Typologies of Community

Awareness and appreciation of the different types of communities help students, researchers, and
agents of social change to focus and deepen their analysis of a particular community. These guide them in
identifying which particular community matches their research interest or political advocacy.

Different Types of Communities

Generally, there are three types of community: geographic community or neighborhood,
community of interest or solidarity, and intentional community. Pramila Aggarwal provided a description
of each type:

Geographic Community or Neighborhood

● This type of community focuses on the physical boundaries that make it distinct or separate, such
as a river or a street.
● It has a diverse population with individuals or groups occupying different physical spaces and
each with special attributes such as religion, economic status, etc.
● Community of Identity
- This community has common identifiable characteristics or attributes like culture,
language, music, religion, customs, and others.

Community of Interest or Solidarity

● This community incorporates social movements such as women’s rights, environment, peace, and
human rights.
● Individuals may be connected to their community of interest at the local and international levels.
● It may also be formal or informal or both.

Intentional Community
● This community refers to individuals that come together voluntarily and support each other.
● Members may share the same interests and identity or geographical location.

Classification Of Communities
Rural-Urban
● This classification is basically geographical in nature.
● Rural areas are separate and away from the influence of large cities and towns. It is known as the
countryside, farmland, or agricultural land.
● Urban areas, on the other hand, are called cities or towns.
● Guide questions:
a. Where is it located?
b. Who lives there?
c. How many people live in it?
d. What is the land use for?
e. What are the services?
f. What jobs do people have?
 g. How do they treat each other?
● Sociologists identify a rural community with the following criteria:

Rural Areas Urban Areas

❖ Relatively small in size ❖ More inclusive
❖ Nonmetropolitan; lies outside the compass ❖ Center of an urban community lies a
of a metropolitan area medium-sized or large-sized city, with
❖ Patently rural in character; “exists in the which those in the nearby town
midst of an agricultural area, an area communities identify
which is characterized as a “primary
economy,’ or one which is marked by
other obvious nonurban cultural, social,
and ecological characteristics.”

Local-Global
● The local-global community refers to “spatialized networks of social relations.”
● Global and local are “not spatial structures but different representations of space competing
against each other in a process to determine the society of that society (Guy, 2009 as cited in
Shanyana and Endofirepi, 2015).”
● Guy (2009) further described global and local communities as the opposite sides of distinction.
This distinction is used in communication as a code to produce information about people and
culture.
● The challenge is to be cognizant of social realities and regard local culture in the advent of
globalization. “Think globally, act locally” presses people to consider the situation of the entire
planet and to take action locally, in their own communities and cities

Physical Space-Virtual Social Space

● A social space is either physical or virtual like an online social media or a center or gathering
place where people interact.
● Physical space refers to unlimited three-dimensional expanses in which material objects are
located.
● On the other hand, virtual social space refers to nonphysical spaces created by the development of
technology (ZahiAlrayyes, 2012).
● With the development of online communication, the concept of the community went beyond
geographical limitations. Now we have a virtual community, a congregation of people
communicating and interacting with each other through information technology.
● People now gather virtually online and share common interests irrespective of physical location.
Before the rise of the Internet, virtual communities were limited by communication and
transportation constraints
 Doing Advocacy
● Advocacy - the act of pleading or arguing in favor of something; fighting for a specific purpose;
an instrument/process in solving/addressing a problem
● Advocate - a person who pleads on another's behalf, or is an intercessor
● Advocacy is over a means rather than an end. It specifically serves as a means to empower the
marginalized and the powerless so that they may be able to gain a better policy environment with
implications for the implementation of policies (AIPP, 2013).

Other Key Results Due to Advocacy Work Include:

1. Building support for a cause and influencing others to address an issue by taking action.
2. Making sure that financial support can be allotted for specific programs and services.
3. Persuading and convincing power holders to pay attention and provide support to particular
development services.
4. Raising the awareness of the public regarding a particular social issue or problem and mobilizing
them to pressure those in position to address the situation.
5. Creating support among people in the community for implementation of that development
intervention.

Three Types of Advocacy (observe ex)

● Systems Advocacy
- Focuses on efforts that shall change policies and practices at the local, national or
international levels
- Changes policies and practices; long-term social change
● Individual Advocacy
- Focuses on efforts that will change the situation of an individual and protect his or her
rights
- Change situation of a person, protect one’s rights
- Ex: gender equality
● Self-Advocacy
- Focuses on strengthening an individual’s ability to communicate with other people, and at
the same time, persuading and convincing the individual to address his or her own needs
and rights
- Choosing yourself; self-love

Methods of Doing Advocacy Work

● Reactive & Proactive
a. Reactive Advocacy
- The problem or issue already exists and the advocacy is being used to reduce the problem
- Gender-biased, discrimination, global warming
b. Proactive Advocacy
- Focuses on planning for the future in which an agenda is set in creating a policy that will
prevent a certain problem before it happens
- Creation of 3rd bathroom, disaster risk management
● Possible Methodologies
a. Analyzing and influencing legislation or policies. This involves analyzing draft
policies, new policies, long established policies, even traditional laws and customs
created
b. Producing a position paper. A position paper is a document that is intended to be read
by a target group or an external audience. A position paper often contains:
I. Statement of the main argument
II. Background why the position is being written
III. Qualitative and quantitative evidence supporting the evidence
IV. Logical explanation on how pieces of evidence lead to the main argument v.
Recommendations
V. Individuals and/or organizations supporting the evidence.
c. Producing a briefing note. A brief note is a document written to help an ally speak
publicly in support of one’s advocacy
d. Holding a face-to-face meeting with decision-makers. A meeting will be conducted
and the message must be delivered