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  • © 2016

Rethinking Community Research

Inter-relationality, Communal Being and Commonality

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Uses Market-Town as a case study to demonstrate a new approach to how we research 'community'

  • Places sociality at the center of the investigation, focusing on the relational linkages within a community

  • Links the analytical framework to social policy through explorations of volunteering and community policing

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Setting Out the Analytic

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Building the Analytic

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 3-26
    3. How Can We Think About Social Activity?

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 27-47
  3. Developing the Analytic and Exploring Market-Town

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49
    2. Plurality and the Space of Appearance

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 51-73
    3. Meanings-in-Common

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 75-94
    4. The Web of Relations

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 95-125
    5. Space, Geography and Social Power

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 127-160
  4. Communal Beingness and Social Policy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 161-161
    2. Volunteering: Governmentality and Communal Meanings

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 163-185
    3. Community Policing

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 187-210
    4. Conclusion

      • David Studdert, Valerie Walkerdine
      Pages 211-220
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 221-231

About this book

This book sheds new light on the complex inter-relations that make up class, power, local history and space. It turns community thinking on its head by understanding community not as an object but as a relational process with sociality at its core. Based on fieldwork from one market town and the work of Hannah Arendt, it demonstrates how a new approach to social practices can illuminate our understanding of commonality and communal being. Whilst community has become both a much-derided and much-touted term, this thought-provoking work shows that it is at the heart of social process. It will appeal to researchers of sociology, social policy, politics, public health and geography, as well as those involved in public policy design and implementation.








Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University , Cardiff, United Kingdom

    David Studdert

  • School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Valerie Walkerdine

About the authors

David Studdert is Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. 
Valerie Walkerdine is Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK.


Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 27.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access