Multiple senses of community: the experience and meaning of community

Abstract This study contributes to the debate on the meaning of community and sense of community, and attempts to clarify the relationship between sense of community and civic and political participation. The authors interviewed 76 participants about their views and feelings about community. Forty‐seven were active members of political parties, neighborhood and cultural associations, and volunteers helping disadvantaged people. Twenty‐nine had never been involved in any kind of social or political group. Results showed that (a) the experience of community emerging from participants' discourse is not remarkably different from the academic meaning of community, and (b) the way individuals perceive community is linked both to sense of community and to civic and political participation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.