Boundaries of Obligation

How we decide who is “us” and who is “them,” and the political consequences of such boundary-making, are questions that have dogged psychologists, philosophers, and political scientists for decades. In Boundaries of Obligation, Cara Wong builds on this rich research tradition by focusing explicitly on the concept of community. She develops a widely applicable theory about how perceptions of communities affect attitudes and behaviors. The book offers significant food for empirical and normative thought about how to study and think about the roles that our numerous community memberships play in our lives. Wong's definition of a “community” is derived from Benedict Anderson's concept of the imagined national community, one that is subjective and recognizes that most members do not actually know one another. Her operational definition of a “community” is “an image in the mind of an individual, of a group toward whose members she feels a sense of similarity, belonging, or fellowship” (p. 6), extending Anderson's imagined community so that the concept can be applied to any social or political group. It also recognizes that objective markers of belonging, such as borders, are often not where the power of community memberships to affect people lies. Wong's argument is that how we conceive of our many imagined communities determines whether we become committed to enhancing the well-being of others (individually and/or through support for redistributive policies) and which members of society can benefit from that commitment. The book centers on analyses of three types of communities: geographic (i.e., local), national, and racial. Her main dependent variables throughout are a sense of obligation to others, civic and political engagement, and policy preferences. She relies on over 10 data sources, providing an impressive range of tests.