ABSTRACT

Despite much attention paid to the topic of community in academic literature and policy documents, there is a relative lack of knowledge about what laypersons perceive as a local community. Based on data from a national survey, the authors examine how c.1400 Norwegians conceptualized local community – lokalsamfunn in Norwegian. They reveal some of the linguistic and conceptual aspects of local community as a term, in addition to tendencies and patterns among the survey responses. The respondents’ conceptualizations contained references to lokalsamfunn variously as a geographical area, people and relations, activities and involvement, attachment to place and people, and provider of local goods and services. Their main emphasis was on lokalsamfunn as a spatial unit. However, the responses contained relatively few references to the relational aspects of lokalsamfunn. The authors conclude that a common, lay understanding may be that lokalsamfunn is a vaguely defined but limited geographical unit filled with people who to varying degrees know each other and interact. Concerning policymaking aimed at fostering communal well-being, the authors hold that any community-based programming requires intricate knowledge of the people who form the community, since without community interaction and a degree of social cohesion any envisioned programmes may not succeed.

摘要

尽管在学术文献和政策文件中对社区的话题给予了很大的关注，但是相对缺乏关于外行人认为本地社区的知识。基于一项全国调查的数据，作者研究了约1400名挪威人如何概念化本地社区–挪威的lokalsamfunn。它们揭示了当地社区在语言和概念方面的一些术语，以及调查答复中的趋势和模式。受访者的概念化包含对lokalsamfunn的不同引用，它们是一个地理区域，人与人之间的关系，活动和参与，对地点和人的依恋以及本地商品和服务的提供者。他们的主要重点是lokalsamfunn作为一个空间单位。但是，答复中很少提及lokalsamfunn的关系方面。作者得出的结论是，一个共同的，外行的理解可能是lokalsamfunn是一个模糊定义的地理区域，但其中充满了不同程度的彼此了解和互动的人们。关于旨在促进社区福祉的政策制定，作者认为，任何基于社区的计划都需要对组成社区的人有全面的了解，因为如果没有社区互动和一定程度的社会凝聚力，任何设想的计划都将无法成功。