This book looks at how the term 'community' is deployed and the work it performs in different contexts.

The concept of 'community' is ubiquitous in the way we talk and think about life in the twenty-first century. Political and economic projects from rainforest conservation to urban empowerment zones focus on 'the community' as theappropriate vehicle and target of change. Some scholars see a decline of community and predict dire social consequences; others criticize the concept itself for its ideological baggage and lack of clear definition. Moving thedebate to a deeper level, the contributors to this volume aspire to understand the various ways 'community' is deployed and the work it performs in different contexts. They compare the many cases where scholars and activists use'community' generically with instances in which the notion of community is less pervasive or even non-existent. How does a community facilitate governance or capital accumulation? In what ways does it articulate these two forces in local and translocal contexts? What are the unintended consequences of deploying the concept - and what, too, are the potential consequences of criticizing our fascination with it? North America: School for Advanced Research Press