Wiley, The London School of Economics and Political Science The British Journal of Sociology

The Myth of Community Studies
Author(s): Margaret Stacey

Source: The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Jun., 1969), pp. 134-147
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Margaret Stacey*
The myth of community studiest

If community studies are to be undertaken they must be justified as
one would justify any piece of sociological research, i.e. they must
make it possible either (i) to test already existing propositions or (ii)
to explore for hypotheses within a given conceptual framework. In
particular one must expect of such studies that they should provide
data in answer to questions about how particular aspects of society
work, which may be drawn together to develop an understanding of
the larger 'how' of social systems in general. Such can also provide
the data upon which those theoreticians who wish to answer the
question 'why society?' can develop their ideas. No distinction is here
made between so-called 'pure' and 'applied' research, for whether
the immediate object is to solve a practical problem or an academic
one, the canons of sociological research are the same.
In relation to so-called community studies we must therefore ask:
(a) Are there propositions which can be tested in this context? (b) Is
it a context in which one can explore for hypotheses and, if so, of
what kind? (c) Is this a particular aspect of society the workings of
which it is reasonable or even possible to isolate in order to examine
the 'how' questions?
In complex societies the critics of 'community studies' answer 'no'
to this last question. If they are right, questions (a) and (b) become
irrelevant. Question (c) must therefore be the starting point.
It is doubtful whether the concept 'community' refers to a useful
abstraction. Certainly confusion continues to reign over the uses of
the term community, a confusion which has been added to rather
than resolved by Kdinig's recently translated work.' The logic of
Kdnig's argument supports the view that as a concept 'community' is
not useful for serious sociological analysis. Yet in his conclusion
*Mrs. Margaret Stacey, B.SC.(ECON.) Lecturer in Sociology, University College,

Swansea
t-This paper has developed from earlier versions read to postgraduate sem
in Sussex, Swansea and Kent during 1966-7 and was re-written for presen
to a day conference of the B.S.A. Western Region. I am grateful to memb
of these seminars and of the region and to my colleagues at Swansea for th
helpful criticisms and encouragement
134
Stacey The myth of community studies
Konig retains the obstinate, but still mythical, remnan

mantic model, which he had so cogently criticized earl
place (p. 180) his definition of community is nothing m
than that of a social group. In another he puts forward
'community' is 'the framework within which the human b
introduced to social relations beyond the confines of t
(p. 195). This is so vague as to be nonsense: there is no s
'community' which does this, at least not in complex societ
agencies are involved in this process of introduction, pe
bours, almost certainly parents' kin and friends (who m
door or miles away), inevitably teachers and peers at sch
the church, and so on. These institutions may, or may not
based. They may, or may not, be inter-related. If they
based and inter-related then there may well be a local s
worth studying, but one would hesitate to call this a co
the relevant institutions were not locality-based, or we
related, as might very well be the case, there would
system present in the locality at all.
Nor is there any less lack of confusion in earlier usa
term. There are, broadly, those who use 'community' fo
tions in a defined geographic area, and those who stress
belonging to a group which 'community' is said to entail
typical community the sense of belonging was said to
with the social relations within the particular geographic a
theless, definitionally it is possible to distinguish those wh
munity' in a geographic sense and those who use it in s
sense.
MacIver2 defined community as a territory in wh

one's life may be passed. Martindale3 has recently r
sociologically as a collectivity which forms a total syst
capable of bringing its members through the ordina
single year or a single life. Martindale has remove
from the concept community and has equated it w
system and with a total way of life. Stein,4 on the
defined community as 'an organized system standing i
relation to its environment which has a local basis but
a rigid boundary' and he is aware that large parts of t
lie outside the community so defined. Thus, for so
munity has a relation to a relatively small local are
cluding Martindale5 and Zentner6 the community i
nation state and the small local area is not to be con
in Zentner's view, as a community but as a local soc
although he removed 'territory' from the definition,
the community co-terminus with the nation-state in w
although his arguments show that not all parts of
135
are cut off by the frontiers of nations, for social relations

beyond these.
Here is the difficulty of any territorially based definition: what
system of social relations can one say has any geographic boundary
except a global one? (Even such bounds may not for long be meaning-
ful: in measurable time it seems likely that some kin group will have
a relative on the moon, with whom, one would hope, social relations
could be maintained.)
Those who stress the 'sense of belonging' may not even be con-
cerned with a territorially defined group. Community is used by
Stein, for example, in the community of two of psychiatrist and
patient.' One also speaks of a community of interest, for example of
academics, a community of interest which in this case is said to ex-
tend beyond national frontiers. Community also has been used to
describe prisons and other more or less total institutions.8
Recently, a tendency has developed to use 'community' as a short-
hand for all those social groups, institutions and relationships which
fall outside the author's immediate concern, for example, the use of
community by Lockwood to cover non-work relationships9 and of
Grove and Procter to describe the social relations of the citizens of a
planning authority.10 In both cases there is a geographic element of
some kind in the relationships which the term community seeks to
describe. Parsons' use of 'societal community' seems more complicated
and no clearer than earlier terms."
The disagreement is thus not only about terms, but is about the
concept the term is supposed to describe, a much more serious
matter.12 For all these reasons one shares Hillery's refusal to use the
word community because it 'embraces a motley assortment of con-
cepts and qualitatively different phenomena'.' As Pahl makes clear
in his recent article on the rural-urban continuum14 and as Martin-
dale and Neuwirth point out in the introduction to the recent edition
of Weber's City,15 our concern as sociologists is with social relation
ships. A consideration of the social attributes of individuals living i
a particular geographic area is therefore not sociology, although
may well be an essential preliminary to sociological analysis.
Sociological terms, however complicated, should be derived from
primitive terms which should, as Zetterberg has pointed out, relat
to 'actors and types of actions'.16 It is possible that we may also b
concerned with the connections between social relationships an
non-social phenomena, geographic, for example, but, given our soci
logical concern, 'any attempt to tie particular patterns of social rel
tionships to specific geographic milieu is a singularly fruitless exer
cise' as Pahl has said."7 This conclusion echoes Gans who says that
'ways of life do not coincide with settlement types'.18
What then is the point of studying social relations in a particula
136
locality? Would it not be better to concentrate upon

particular social institutions, e.g. the sociology of indu
politics, family?
It should be noted, first of all, that there are two kinds
studies. One is concerned with particular institutions
manifested in a locality, e.g. the family as studied by
Harris or Young and Willmott. The other is concer
inter-relations of institutions in a locality, e.g. Gosfo
waith, Banbury.19 It is the utility of the second kind of
being examined here, although it should be made plain
tions between the two types are not hard and fast. Fu
study apparently falling firmly within a category such a
of industry or the sociology of religion may be under
geographically confined area. Thus aspects of industr
may be studied in a particular works in a particular lo
If one postulates, then, that one is not concerned t
munity' because this is a non-concept, but is concerne
stitutions in a locality, and particularly to examine wheth
any connections between them, is it possible to argue
aspect of society which one can isolate and which it is wor
Arguments against locality studies derive from a numbe
and are qualitatively different. It is said (i) that they are
tion; (ii) that they are works of art, idiosyncratic and
therefore, (iii) it is argued that they are of no use to a
must be based on the comparative method; (iv) that t
mitted to a holistic approach to sociological theory; an
abstract from empirical social reality at a point where
tion is neither feasible nor useful.
There is, of course, no 'mere' description. Description is always
based upon some conceptions: the vaguer these are, the vaguer are
the descriptions likely to be and the less useful for hypothesis forma-
tion. On the other hand, without observation and description there
could be no hypotheses and no theory. There is no doubt, however,
that as a body of knowledge, and perhaps particularly a science, de-
velops one calls for empirical data marshalled in such a way as to
make an immediate addition to the accumulated store. Dilettante
description will not fit these requirements, but while we may h
today description that some of us feel is misguided, there is
dilettante description masquerading as professional sociology.
The methodological charge (ii) is a large one and relates to
whole nature of the social sciences. Three propositions are here ta
as axiomatic in the study of society: (i) society is outside any one ma
(in the Durkheimian sense of exteriority), (ii) each man has a p
ticular position in society and (iii) each man has internalized a particu
lar collection of norms and values from society, involving attitu
137
and emotions. These statements apply to the sociologist

his subjects, affecting what he works on and how he go
Sociology, therefore, like the other social sciences, in th
view is neither an art in the classic sense of the humanistic
nor a science in the sense of the physical sciences, but s
own right, with its own theories and methods. The utter
value-free science is therefore a chimera which it is a waste of time to
pursue.
Therefore those who argue that there is an element of the work of
art in any locality study, and particularly in one-man studies, have
undoubtedly some truth on their side. But this element of the work
of art enters into any sociological research. It is an element which can
be more or less well controlled in any study. A highly idiosyncratic
non-replicable study may be seminal, but cannot be used compara-
tively. While imaginative insights are important for the development
of any science, the most valuable researches in any field of sociology
are those which can be used comparatively. This is par excellence
the case in the study of social systems, which, if one accepts their
existence sui generis, are larger and last longer than any team of re-
searchers. It therefore behoves the student of social relations in locali-
ties to use commonly accepted definitions for commonly accepted
concepts, to collect and analyse his data in ways which are comparable
with those of other scholars. To encourage such activity the BSA are
shortly to publish the deliberations of their working party on the
comparability of data.
One must be clear, however, what it is one wants to compare and
how. Cohen has commented on the reductio ad absurdum of the
holistic approach. Discussing the logical criticism of the holisti
proach that it inhibits comparison and generalizations he adds 'imag
the difficulty of trying to compare the family structures of Engl
and French society by examining not only every other known feat
of the two societies but the way in which these inter-relate with o
another to form a whole'.20
In so far as so-called community studies have been based on an
uncritical structural-functional approach they are not defensible (i)
because there is no good reason to suppose that everything is con-
nected with everything else and (ii) because there is even less reason
to suppose that this should be the case in any particular small locality
of a nation-state. There is no doubt, however, that some institutions
are related to others: one would like to know which ones and in what
ways. Studies of social relations in localities provide a unique oppor-
tunity for answering part at least of this question.
Thus the answer to the question (b) posed at the outset of this
paper is that in addition to providing a milieu for the detailed study
of any one institution or process, the locality is a context in which one
138
can explore for hypotheses about the inter-relations

Nor does it appear to matter much for this purpose wh
is isolated or not. The consequences for the social re
locality of changes introduced from outside have af
some interesting studies (e.g. Westrigg, Pentrediwai
Banbury).21
Social relations must be seen not only in combina
other but in the two dimensions of time and space. For
that these two dimensions are not unimportant in d
nature of social institutions. Thus, where marked loc
have been identified they have developed in a relat
locality over a considerable period of time, fifty to
least, and in a locality in which all the components
to be found. While Bales was not specifically concern
dealing with the problem-solving process, he was c
time and saw the process to be distributed in time and
tween persons. In Bales' view the distinction canno
even in the most abstract formulations which, as he sa
convenient theoretically', the two resultant modes o
tion not ever being entirely resolvable into each other.
Arensberg and Kimball stress particularly the tem
While their use of 'community' and the way they
among those conceptualizations which are here being
stress on time is important, as Martindale also recogniz
The main justification for the study of social relat
must rest upon the answer to the first sub-question po
are there propositions which can be tested in this
ated with this is, of course, the question 'can a series
propositions about social relations in localities be der
ing empirical data seen in the light of general soci
An attempt to demonstrate that this question can be
affirmative follows.
Some specific aspects about which it seems possible to speak at the
moment are (i) the establishment and maintenance of a local social
system; (ii) local conditions where no such system could be expected;
(iii) some circumstances under which an existing system might be
modified or destroyed; (iv) certain inter-relations between systems
and their parts; (v) the interaction of local and national systems.
The concern here is with what has been called system integration
or functional interdependence, especially with how such comes about.
This is of course also closely involved with questions to do with 'why
society'. Here I agree with Cohen when he says that the 'only theory
which is in any way satisfactory is that which explains functional
integration as the largely unintended product of social interaction
occurring over time.'25
139
A social system is here used for a set of inter-related so

tions* covering all aspects of social life, familial, religi
etc., and the associated belief systems of each. This is
sociologists have called 'social organization' and bears
blance to what Parsons calls the 'societal communit
above. Each of the aspects mentioned, familial, politica
considered as systems themselves and are parts of any
A local social system occurs when such a set of inter-r
in a geographically defined locality. If there are no co
tween the major social institutions in the locality, that is
which are specific to that locality, there is no local social
set of inter-relations which compose the social system ma
less complete. A complete social system in which all in
present and inter-related is an ideal type. In practice all so
are partial in the sense that not all sub-systems are presen
are interconnected if present, or both. Empirically, in
graphically defined locality, the likelihood is that there w
no local social system, or some kind of partial local social
The theoretical position of a complete local social sy
well be thought to be open to the objections raised earli
concept 'community'. This is not intended. The aim
define a state, known not to exist, and to indicate the fac
it is composed. Any one system may theoretically, or in p
one or more of these factors and thus be a partial socia
sub-systems of any local social system may be part of,
with, systems outside the locality. A social system of a ki
with a sub-system missing, for example, there might be n
kin connections. A prison might be one such. While it
that there could be a social system without a belief sy
could be a social system without formally organized re
larly a social system may not have a political system ba
political organizations. Theoretically, it should be po
systematically the institutions which might be presen
interconnections. Against this model the presence or a
stitutions and connections could then be plotted. Cohen
description of a Yemeni community would seem to be
pirical example of one type of partial local social system
both partial internal and external connections.28 The
of such a model should make systematic comparison bet
more rigorous.
*Where a social institution is defined, following Ginsberg, as 'rec

established usages governing the relations between individuals or
definition which is largely consonant with that of Parsons 'Norm
which define what are felt to be ... proper, legitimate, or expecte
action or of social relationship.'27
140
The concept of a local social system in mind here in

ture and process. It involves not only what institution
but the processes of their operation; not only which in
connected to which others, but the processes invol
social mechanisms. Process involves movement and it follows that
no social system is static. This I take as axiomatic. Processes tak
time and the dimension of time is therefore, as was shown above,
essential to the conceptualization of any social system. In this dis-
cussion time will be treated as an empirical condition relevant to
the state of any local social system. That is to say the state of a system
at a given moment of time will be considered and the temporal con-
ditions which have led to that state and what may follow will be indi-
cated. This may lend some of the states referred to in the propositions
a static appearance, but it should be understood that such states are
to be perceived as part of a dynamic process. The statements which
refer to the conditions of probable change should make this clear.
With these concepts in mind and on the basis of existing research
it seems to be possible to suggest the following tentative propositions
about local social systems. The works used for illustration are prin-
cipally British, but other studies have been taken into account in
considering what propositions to make.
i. Certain conditions are necessary for the initial development of
a local social system:
(a) The minimum condition is that the majority of the local popu-
lation should have been present together in the locality for some
period of time.
(b) The longer is this period the more likely is there to be a local
social system present.
(c) Where the majority of the population have been born and bred
in the locality it is highly likely that there will be some sort of local
social system present. E.g. Old Banbury, Winston Parva, Zones
I and II.29
But unless this condition 1(c) applies,
2. It does not necessarily follow that because a majority of the loca
population have been present in a locality for some period of ti
that a local social system will develop. E.g. Winston Parva, Zone
(see propositions 21 and 22 below).
(The empirical relationship between the development of a loca
social system and the passing of time is not at all clearly known.)
3. Following from proposition i, in a situation where there ha
been a local social system in existence one may deduce that:
(a) When the number of migrants into a locality increases, the
must be a critical point at which the increase will place suc
strain upon the system as to prevent its previous operation. In this
case if the system continues to exist it will be in an altered sta
141
Stacey The myth of commrrunity studies
The critical point will be determined by the number and
of migrants in relation to the host population.
(The empirical conditions under which this may occur
known at all accurately.)
(b) There must be a further critical point when such an
would destroy the system altogether, that is to say social
ships in the locality would become dominated by institution
than those of the erstwhile local social system. In view of th
penetration of systems considered in propositions 16-18
below, it seems more likely that change of the kind indi
3(a) above will occur, except in extreme conditions such
quest.
4. It is characteristic of a local social system that some or all of the
actors in the population to which the system relates play multiplex
roles to each other.
5. The more institutions are present in the locality, the more likely
is a local social system to develop because the chances of multiplex
role playing are increased (since the number of statuses and therefore
the number of roles is increased).
6. Where there is a local social system there will be a structure of
overlapping groups, as well as a structure of overlapping roles.
7. The presence or absence of certain institutions produce critical
differences in the type of local social system which may be found.
Thus, in a locality which is entirely residential, only sub-systems con-
nected with neighbouring and with familial and kin relations can
develop. The addition of workplaces to the locality not only increases
the number of available roles, but may alter the characteristics of the
relations between people and make possible, through the develop-
ment of new institutions, a different type of local social system.
8. Where any substantial institutions are removed the system is
modified. E.g. in Pentrediwaith where the local social system was
modified by the removal of work from the locality.
9. Where any substantial institutions are greatly changed the
system cannot work as it did previously, as in Banbury where new
economic relations were introduced.
io. Critical differences are exhibited by social systems in locali
where points of power in organizations associated with the econo
political and other major sub-systems are present in the locality.
the continued presence of a local social system in Banbury in 19
despite a large influx of migrants, was connected with the contin
presence of some power points of the economic, political and l
organizations in the locality.
11. Where local power points are removed the local social syste
is modified. E.g. the change in Westrigg, between 19oo and 195o,
the associated changes in the local social system, were closely c
142
nected with the removal of points of political power from

and the shift in the loci of industrial (agricultural) po
12. Absence from the locality of power points or or
associated with major sub-systems may result in the destr
local social system and even also physical destructi
Barton Hill where the local social system included inst
cerning most relationships but not political power. Vo
legislation or administration) was the only political ins
sent. The area was razed and redeveloped, the resi
rehoused.
13. If the size of the area which is controlled by the power point of
any one major organization is increased, it follows that the locality
within which a local social system containing the relevant institution
can develop must increase in size. E.g. the area covered by local social
systems which include local political power has already increased in
the last ioo years. One may speculate on the consequences for such
systems of the introduction of city regions.
14. As with any social system, a local social system will have a sys-
tem of beliefs associated with it. In a locality where there is a local
social system these beliefs will be shared by many members of the
populations to which the system relates. The mechanism of this
sharing operates through the multiplex role-playing and the over-
lapping group memberships of the local population.
15. Where a majority of the population of a locality do not share
to any considerable extent common groups, institutions, beliefs and
expectations, there can be no one local social system for that locality
E.g. Mrs. Patterson's Brixton30 and Banbury 1950. Also Sparkbrook,
where the consequences of the operation of the larger social system
for social relations in a particular locality are examined.31
(The empirical meaning of 'majority' and 'considerable extent'
are at present not at all clearly known.)
16. In any locality in Britain, not all the residents of a locality will
be involved in the institutions which are components of the local
social system, e.g. some may work, worship or play outside the locality,
these being governed by institutions which may or may not be the
same as specifically local institutions.
17. Nor will the residents who are involved in institutions associa-
ted with the local social system be totally encompassed by that system,
because in no locality in Britain are all the points of power of organi-
zations associated with the major sub-systems to be found in the
locality. Much political power is centred in the national government,
and the economic and religious systems extend beyond the locality
and to some extent beyond the nation.
18. In localities where there is a local social system, there will also
be elements of other social systems present in the locality, i.e. the
143
local social system will not totally encompass all institutio
relationships present. E.g. migrants bring with them nationally
mated rights to vote for local political bodies.
19. Where there is no local social system, these elements
social systems may show no systematic connections within the
or partial connection only, e.g. commuter villages.
20o. Where there is a local social system elements of it will b
nected with systems outside the locality, that is, not that t
system as a whole is part of a wider system, but that its
parts of wider systems. Thus, while a local social system wil
own associated beliefs and cultural systems, the local system of
and of culture will share elements of the beliefs and cultural sy
of the wider society.
21. Some structural and cultural features of a local social
may render some individuals socially invisible to each other
Williams reports for Gosforth (p. 105) of two in-coming f
'their existence was, and probably would remain, unrec
Therefore,
22. Physical proximity does not always lead to the establishm
social relations. Thus proposition i(a) is a necessary, but not
cient, condition for the development of a local social system
fore,
23. Physical proximity does not always lead to the establishment of
social relations.
24. Multiplex social roles develop where there is a small closed
population because the members are obliged to play many roles to
each other.
25. In a large population, simplex role relations can exist. But
26. If many members of this large population are rendered socially
invisible then a small group within the large population may well
establish multiplex relations. (This is true of the 'urban villages' and
also of elites.)
27. An increase in the number of migrants from an area reduces
the number of actors available, increases the probability of multiplex
role playing, and may also lead to the modification and possible des-
truction of a previously existing social system.
(Empirical evidence is lacking here.)
28. Where a local social system is present there tends to be a con-
vergence of the elites within the system, that is, a tendency to the
development of a total social status in the locality.
29. The social relationships of people in the population to which
the local social system relates include those of conflict as well as co-
operation. E.g. Pentrediwaith, Banbury.
30. Indifference to each other among people in a population, i.e.
a lack of concern about relationships or an absence of relationships
144
indicates a weak local social system or that no such social

present.
31. Given that in ony one locality there are persons not involved in
the local social system (proposition 16) and that elements of other
systems will be present (proposition 18) the local social system will be
sensitive to any changes which take place in these social systems out-
side itself. This sensitivity is increased because of the connection of
parts of the local social system with parts of wider social systems
(proposition 2o).
Undoubtedly there are other propositions of a similar kind which
could be extracted from the considerable and increasing number of
empirical studies of localities. The propositions of course attempt to
generalize particular social relations in such a way that they can be
related to generalizations derived from other types of studies, thus
giving wider scope than can be achieved by any one study. This set
is connected with the concept of the local social system and with
system integration. Other specific sets could also be developed. One
of the advantages of setting out the propositions in this sort of way is
that it shows how, by development of particular propositions, role
theory and structural theory and also cultural theory can be inter-
related. Indeed one of the advantages of studying social relations in
a locality is that it forces upon one considerations of this kind.
The propositions also show how irrelevant is the argument that
because a totality of social relations are not to be found within a
locality, the future of locality studies is in doubt. They make it plain
that in any locality study some of the social processes we shall want to
consider will take us outside the locality. It may well be that the
division of labour should be that while some sociologists learn to deal
with the horizontal patterns, to use Warren's phrase, others learn how
to deal with the vertical patterns.32 In any case it is certain that
locality studies cannot stand on their own. They must be compared
not only with each other, but with data gathered in other ways in
other fields. Statistical generalizations about the whole country are
important to place the locality in a national pattern. A local study
equally shows some of the limitations of such overall generalizations.
Non-statistical national studies on particular topics are also needed
to illuminate the local incidence. These methods of data collection
and analysis are not alternatives. All are needed to inform each other.
It is only possible to move towards propositions of the kind that
have tried to make here with a knowledge of empirical studies a
sociological theory derived from many fields of enquiry.
K 145
Notes
and ed. by Don Martindale and Ger-

1. Rend K6nig, The Community,
trans. Edward Fitzgerald, Routledge
trude Neuwirth, The Free Press, New
and Kegan Paul, 1968. York, 1958.
2. R. M. MacIver, Society: A16. Text-
Hans L. Zetterberg, On Theory
book of Sociology, Farrar and Rein- in Sociology, Bed-
and Verification
hart, 1945, p. 9. minster Press, 1965, p. 54.
3. Don Martindale, 'The Formation
17. Op. cit., p. 322.
and the Destruction of Community',
18. H. J. Gans, 'Urbanism and sub-
urbanism
ch. 3 of Explorations in Social Change, as Ways of Life' in Arnold
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a study of West Indians in London, munity in America, Rand McNally,
Pelican, 1965. Chicago, 1963.
147

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The Myth of Community Studies

Author(s): Margaret Stacey

The myth of community studiest

*Mrs. Margaret Stacey, B.SC.(ECON.) Lecturer in Sociology, University College,

Konig retains the obstinate, but still mythical, remnan

MacIver2 defined community as a territory in wh

are cut off by the frontiers of nations, for social relations

locality? Would it not be better to concentrate upon

and emotions. These statements apply to the sociologist

can explore for hypotheses about the inter-relations

A social system is here used for a set of inter-related so

*Where a social institution is defined, following Ginsberg, as 'rec

The concept of a local social system in mind here in

nected with the removal of points of political power from

indicates a weak local social system or that no such social

and ed. by Don Martindale and Ger-

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