Community / translated by Edward Fitzgerald

The local community is, together with the family, one of the most important basic forms of society. Professor König describes its structure, and its position in relation to other social systems; he is concerned to explain the meaning of the term 'community', as no other work has yet satisfactorily defined it. He sees the community as a determinative system of social behaviour, since, although other comprehensive social institutions of a higher order have long since developed, the majority of human beings still spend the greater part, if not the whole, of their lives in a single community.

Various aspects of the community are discussed: its general role in the develop ment of human society; its structure; the problems of neighbourhood, and of ecological and social stratification. It is shown that even a small community can be a highly complex social system, and the point is illustrated by reference to many research investigations carried out both in Europe and in the United States. The importance of community studies is stressed, not only for sociology, but for many others of the social sciences, in cluding economics, economic and legal history, ethnology, and folklore, and a short history is given of community research and of methods of community investigation.