I have always been impressed and influenced by the work of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, particularly his trenchant analysis of the role that hegemony plays in propping up the prevailing structures and relations of society.  Basically, he argued that hegemony provided society with the boundaries of "common sense", and thereby controlled and limited the wider discussions; obviously, this had the impact of dampening broader discourse about what "could be" because many of these ideas were not viewed as common sense and could be readily dismissed as, well, literally nonsense. Unjust power, then, could be maintained by consent rather than force.

And I think Gramsci's work is of particular and continuing importance to making sense of the ideas of community development and community organization.  In many ways, "community" is counter to the prevailing norms of the importance of an individual as a "consumer".  Organized groups of collectivity - unions, places of faith, political parties (with the possible exception of those able to harness new modes of communication) - all seem to be on the decline.  And, at the same time shopping malls - particulalry the food courts with their low paid workers - are getting fancier! But I believe that the only way individual rights can be truly projected (and individual aspirations promoted) is through a solid foundation of collective rights. The only way that people can have individual"choices" is through authentic, collective provision.  And that is, in my opinion, community.

That's why I am glad to be going to the Institute.  We may not always agree on what "community" means, and what its role should / could be in creating the world we, hopefully,  want to live in - but we can have that counter-hegemonic discussion. I am looking forward to it.

Ciao.