Communitarianism

[[File:Political-spectrum-multiaxis.png|thumb|right|200px|Derivative of the [[Nolan chart]] that's been designed to accommodate the communitarianism vs individualism dichotomy.]]
{{sociology}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[communism]]; as communitarianism is a philosophy that values community and social responsibility, while communism is a specific ideology advocating for a radical transformation of society toward a classless, communally-owned system.}}
{{cquote|'''Dr. Kauffman:''' Now just think, less than a month ago, Santa Mira was like any other town. People with nothing but problems. Then, out of the sky came a solution. Seeds drifting through space for years took root in a farmer's field. From the seeds came pods which had the power to reproduce themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life. […] They're taking you over cell for cell, atom for atom. There is no pain. Suddenly, while you're asleep, they'll absorb your minds, your memories and you're reborn into an untroubled world.<br>'''Miles:''' Where everyone's the same?<br>'''Dr. Kauffman:''' Exactly.<br>'''Miles:''' What a world. We're not the last humans left. They'll destroy you!<br>'''Dr. Kauffman:''' Tomorrow you won't want them to. Tomorrow you'll be one of us.|||{{wpl|Invasion of the Body Snatchers|''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''| (1956)}}<ref>[https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers_(1956_film) ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956 film)] ''Wikiquote''.</ref>}} 

'''Communitarianism'''  (from [[Latin]]: ''communitas'', "community") is a [[political]]-[[philosophical]] [[worldview]] in which "the community" is the be-all and end-all&nbsp;– and not the [[person|individual]], the [[government]] or the [[nation]]. It is characterized by opposition to certain aspects of [[liberalism]] and {{wpl|individualism||,}} believing that the proverbial {{wpl|A Theory of Justice|"liberal theory of justice"}} has not taken into account the value of [[society]]. Thus, it emphasizes the importance of the civil society instead of the individual, deeming that its the society that is tasked to shape the individual.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web |last= Etzioni|first=Amitai |date= 2015|title= Communitarianism: political and social philosophy|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/communitarianism|website= Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=August 6, 2025}}</ref>

While communitarianism is not exclusively limited to the right or the left in the [[political spectrum]] (nor even measured by conventional means; needing a specific modified variant of the [[Nolan chart]]), most of the modern [[political parties]] advocating communitarianism are either [[Right wing|right]] or [[far-right]] in their political alignment.<ref>Young, M. C., "Conservatism and Communitarianism: Two or One?" (2020). The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA. 4. [https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/csspe/vol4/1/4]</ref> In addition, communitarianism has significant [[ideological]] and philosophical overlap with [[corporatism]]. 

==History of the idea==
As with most-if-not-all things, the principles of communitarianism originate from [[classical antiquity]], with [[Plato]] being the oldest source discussing the subject.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dotts |first= Brian |date= 2022|title=Investigating Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education|chapter= Classic Philosophy: Plato |url=https://open.online.uga.edu/critical-contemporary-education/chapter/chapter-2-classic-philosophy-plato/ |website= University of Georgia|quote=What does Plato’s ideal republic look like? Plato believed that human beings are social animals and that they can only realize their potential in association with others. He does recognize individuality and he concludes that individuals are inherently unique and it is this uniqueness that should serve as his or her focal dedication to the republic. '''It is here that Plato’s theory may be labeled both communitarian and functionalist.''' That is, he views each citizen devoting his or her unique abilities for the service of the public or [[state]]. Based on unique abilities, some citizens will serve as rulers while others will labor. This creates harmony in Plato’s theory of the just state. Each individual can specialize in what she or he does best; enjoy their work, while performing specializations that are mutually beneficial to the state. Specialization fulfills individual needs for self-fulfillment and actualization while maintaining the functionality of the state. Greed, competition and self-interest, on the other hand, ultimately undermine an ideal state and are discouraged.|access-date= August 6, 2025}}</ref> Subsequently, [[Aristotle]], would also touch upon foundations of communitarianism.<ref name="britannica"/><ref>[https://habib.camden.rutgers.edu/talks/plato-and-aristotle/ Identity and Difference: Plato and Aristotle on Democracy M.A.R. Habib, Dept. Of English, Rutgers University The University College of Ripon and York, July 14, 1998]</ref> Strong communitarian elements can be observed in [[religions]] such as in [[Christianity]] (evident in both in [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]] texts), [[Islam]] (particularly the concept of {{wpl|shūrā}}) and [[Confucianism]].<ref name="britannica"/>

Communitarianism also follows the tradition of {{wpl|republicanism||,}} which, however, places its emphasis not on community but on political participation. Indeed, between classical antiquity and the [[Enlightenment]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]&nbsp;— although mainly associated with classical realism and republicanism&nbsp;— expressed ideas that are now considered to be building blocks for communitarianism.<ref> "Communitarianism." In International Encyclopedia of Political Science,  edited by Badie, Bertrand, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, and Leonardo Morlino, 327-31. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2011. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412959636.n84.</ref>

Liberalism, which emphasizes [[freedom]] and individual [[rights]], emerged in the 17<sup>th</sup> and 18<sup>th</sup> centuries as a defense of individual autonomy against oppressive [[autocratic]] and [[feudal]] social structures (see [[John Locke]]). The 19<sup>th</sup> century would see a new batch of philosophers who would contribute to the development of communitarianism, including [[Hegel|G.W.F. Hegel]],{{efn|see ''[[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel#Communitarianism]]''.}} {{wpl|Alexis de Tocqueville||,}}{{efn|Tocqueville's work, particularly ''{{wpl|Democracy in America||,}}'' has significantly influenced communitarian thought by highlighting the importance of social institutions and civic engagement in maintaining a healthy democracy. He emphasized that a strong civil society, with robust participation from citizens, is crucial for preventing the excesses of individualism and ensuring the stability of a democratic nation.}} and {{wpl|Ferdinand Tönnies||.}}{{efn|Tönnies's work on ''{{wpl|Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft}}'' significantly influenced communitarianism by providing a framework for understanding the decline of community in modern society and the subsequent rise of individualism. His concepts of community (German: ''Gemeinschaft'') and society (German: ''Gesellschaft'') highlighted the shift from close-knit, value-driven social structures to more impersonal, contractual relationships. This framework resonated with communitarian thinkers who critiqued the perceived loss of social cohesion and moral grounding in modern life.}} In 1841, Chartist {{wpl|Goodwyn Barmby}} became the first person to use the word "communitarianism", although he used the word to refer to what is now understood as [[Socialism#Utopian socialism|Utopian Socialism]].<ref name="britannica"/>

Communitarianism proper sees its own origins as a response to the advancing individualization in the industrial [[capitalist]] countries, which its thinkers have observed to have taken off in the 20<sup>th</sup> century. These same thinkers believe that while in the 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup> centuries individual rights were still embedded in a network of [[family]], community, and [[religious]] community, the social balance shifted in favor of [[economic]] [[Utility (economics)|utility]] maximization in the course of industrial capitalism. Restrictions based on [[morality]] and religion increasingly lost their importance. The result was that people increasingly withdrew into their private spheres and civic engagement was largely lost. At the same time, a [[welfare state]] was established that supposedly severely restricted citizens' initiative.<ref name="Bell"/>

The ideology itself saw its proper emergence around in 1970s and 1980s among a number of political philosophers in the [[United States]], who were critical of liberalism as interpreted by both the [[social liberal]] {{wpl|John Rawls}} and the [[libertarian]] ([[neoliberal]] favorite) [[Robert Nozick]]. These thinkers drew their criticism towards liberalism's economic, cultural and moral emphasis on values such as individual freedom and focus on personal success and one's own way of life. They deemed that due to excessive individualism, individuals are seen as entitled to act in ways they wish, despite the socially and ecologically harmful consequences; such as [[species]] [[extinction]], overuse of non-renewable and renewable natural resources, and competition that erodes trust between people ({{wpl|social atomism}}). The communitarian thinkers were also critical of [[socialism]] and [[Marxism]], believing that these allowed the state to take precedence over the community to an excessive extent. In the early 1990s, the communitarians formulated an actual political goal: to combat the dissolution of the community and the moral decline of the civic virtues.<ref name="Bell">Bell, Daniel, "Communitarianism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2024/entries/communitarianism/>.</ref>

==Basics==
The main communitarian ideas are:
* There is no state prior to the community. Humans have not established the community to achieve certain goals&nbsp;— community has always existed.
* The community is built on some common values that everyone in the community recognizes.
* Initiatives in the community of values come from below&nbsp;— not from [[government|the state]].
* The values of community are deeply rooted in [[tradition]].

Central to communitarianism is the social conception of humans and the related conception of community. That humans are fundamentally communal beings and our self and self-understanding are in many ways connected to the communities in which we live. The ideology deems that human society is not built up of individuals detached from [[language]], [[culture]], [[history]] and society, but of people born and socialized in a certain time, place, culture and society, whose self is built up in relation to the things they absorb from their own unique socio-historical environment of growth. ''On paper'', communitarianism does not deny or belittle individuality but places it in its socially relevant contexts in a way that could not be done at the time of the emergence of liberalism, because the social sciences were quite rudimentary at the time of the emergence of liberalism.

==Political assessment==
As stated prior, communitarianism doesn't really fit in the left-wing or right-wing political spectrum. From a economic point of view&nbsp;— due to its opposition to both liberal and socialist models &nbsp;— it could be considered a form of [[third positionism]]. Yet despite not supposedly being an exclusively [[right-wing]] ideology, most of the visible/successful political parties are right-wing in nature.

Communitarianism doesn't particularly strive in the realm of leftist politics. Not just because (social) liberalism&nbsp;— and by extension [[progressive]] politics&nbsp;— is fundamentally incompatible with communitarianism, but also due to [[communism]] and [[socialism]] being the favored forms of left-wing [[Communist glossary#Collectivism|collectivism]], which makes "left-wing communitarianism" somewhat redundant. Still, [[social democracy]] and {{wpl|Fabianism}} are contentiously considered a communitarian ideologies. Also while [[Third Way]] is sometimes identified as advocating for communitarianism, its mostly deemed that they merely use communitarian language to justify their policies.<ref>The Third Way and beyond: Criticisms, futures, alternatives (Editors: Sarah Hale, Will Leggett, and Luke Martell), eISBN: 9781526137883 Manchester University Press</ref>

Communitarianism primarily thrives in political entities that advocate [[conservatism]] (particularly {{wpl|traditionalist conservatism}}), [[Christian democracy]] and [[radical right]] ideology. Why conservatism and communitarianism feed off each-other, is due to shared rejection of liberal individualism, emphasis on community traditions and shared values, and the belief that morality is socially constructed rather than based on abstract [[reason]]. Both traditions prioritize collective well-being, find meaning in established social practices, and look to the past to guide social and political decision-making, often viewing the preservation of good traditions as more important than the pursuit of potentially disruptive new ideas. 

However, there are two major deviations between the two, in that communitarianism can be flexible in its application (whereas conservatives tend to be more cautious about change and more focused on preserving existing social structures) and that communitarianism seeks to foster communal harmony by emphasizing the normative significance of community membership (though conservatives think of this more as a way to strengthen social bonds and collective identity). 

Probably the most notorious communitarian entity of the past was the [[Ethnocracy|ethnocractic]] [[Völkisch movement]] (see ''{{wpl|Volksgemeinschaft}}''), that would eventually spawn the ([[fascism|fascistic]] [[corporatism|corporatist]]) [[Nazi Party]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=  Mommsen|first1=  Wolfgang J.|last2= Osterhammel|first2=  Jurgen  |date=2013 |title= Max Weber and His Contempories|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Max_Weber_and_His_Contempories/BcTWAQAAQBAJ|publisher= Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781135032296}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Weber|first=Thomas |date= 2017|title=Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi |publisher=  Oxford University Press|page=117 |isbn=9780199664627}}</ref>

Not quite as horrid (but not particularly admirable either) example was the one created by  [[Singapore]]’s late [[Benevolent dictatorship|benevolent dictator]] [[Lee Kuan Yew]], as well as the conservative {{wpl|People's Action Party|| (PAP)}} that he founded. While LKY didn't explicitly express subscribing to a specific communitarian ideology, his policies and governance style reflected key communitarian principles such as prioritizing the common good over individual liberties, promoting social cohesion, and emphasizing the importance of family and community. Likewise, PAP endorses communitarian values and [[Nationalism#Types of nationalism|civic nationalism]], with the key part of party's social policy being the promotion national unity by integrating the country's major ethnic groups into a unified Singaporean identity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chua |first=Beng-Huat |date=2002 |title=Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Communitarian_Ideology_and_Democracy_in/h1OKAgAAQBAJ |publisher=  Taylor & Francis|page= 36|isbn= |access-date=August 10, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Etzioni |first= Amitai|date=1998 |title=The Essential Communitarian Reader |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Rf13EQAAQBAJ|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=86 |isbn=9798216245773 |access-date=}}</ref>

Other notable examples of modern right-wing communitarian parties include: the [[Conservative Party (UK)]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Campos Maschette  |first=Lenon |date= 2024|title=The British Conservative Party: Ideology and Citizenship |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_British_Conservative_Party/sCHpEAAAQBAJ  |publisher=  Taylor & Francis|page= |isbn= 9781003849964}}</ref>, [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (Germany), [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (UK), [[Hungary#Fidesz|Fidesz]] (Hungary)<ref>{{cite book |last1=  Bozóki|first1=András|last2=  Fleck|first2=Zoltán |date= 2024|title=Embedded Autocracy: Hungary in the European Union|publisher= Lexington Books|page=78 |isbn=9781793636072}}</ref>, the [[Finns Party]] (Finland) and [[Poland#Political parties|Law and Justice]] (Poland).

==Problems==
[[File:Page 475 of Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).png|thumb|right|200px|''The Emperor’s New Clothes'' isn’t about communitarianism itself, but the tale metaphorically highlights its main dangers: when community pressure outweighs individual judgment, unthinking conformity and moral compromise can follow.]]
Communitarianism, while offering a compelling critique of liberal individualism, faces significant challenges in implementation and practice. The term "community" is often [[vague]], making it unclear whose voices count or whose values guide collective life. This can foster exclusion and suppress [[Affirmative action|diversity]], as individuals feel pressure to [[Herd mentality|conform to perceived communal ideals]]. Determining shared [[Morality|ethical values]] can also slip into [[moral relativism]] or elevate consensus over independent judgment. Emphasizing the community over the individual risks curbing personal freedoms, and in extreme cases, can enforce conformity so strictly that it becomes [[Totalitarianism|oppressive]], compelling members to live by values they do not truly share.<ref> Frazer, Elizabeth, 'Introduction', The Problems of Communitarian Politics: Unity and Conflict (Oxford, 1999; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Nov. 2003), https://doi.org/10.1093/0198295642.003.0001, accessed 6 Aug. 2025.</ref><ref>Chang YL. Communitarianism, Properly Understood. Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence. 2022;35(1):117-139. doi:10.1017/cjlj.2021.21</ref><ref>Uysal, Ö.F. Revisiting communitarianism: neither liberal nor authoritarian. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1094 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05506-3</ref><ref>Cohen, Andrew Jason (1999). Communitarianism 'social constitution,' and autonomy. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 80 (2):121–135.</ref>

{{wpl|Hans Christian Andersen||'s}} ''{{wpl|The Emperor’s New Clothes}}'' illustrates this danger; citizens uphold an obviously false belief about the emperor’s attire out of fear of social disapproval, only overturned by the candid observation of a child. The story underscores how communities that valorize consensus over critical reflection can sustain falsehoods, highlighting the need for independent judgment and moral courage.<ref>
{{cite web |last= Morrow|first= Paul|date=May 27, 2014 |title=The Emperor's New Clothes and Pluralistic Ignorance |url= https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/the-emperors-new-clothes-and-pluralistic-ignorance-2014-05-27|website=Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College |access-date=January 17, 2026}}</ref>

==People==
{{collist|3|
* {{wpl|Benjamin R. Barber}}
* {{wpl|Amitai Etzioni}}
* {{wpl|Alasdair MacIntyre}}
* {{wpl|Michael Sandel}}
* {{wpl|Charles Taylor}}
* {{wpl|Michael Walzer}}
}}

==See also==
* [[Asian values]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Conservatism]]
[[Category:Discrimination]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Social justice]]

Categories: Conservatism, Discrimination, Philosophy, Psychology, Political terms, Sociology, Social justice