50138 Community, Culture and the Social

UTS: Communication: Cultural Studies
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

This subject focuses on the formal, semi-formal and informal groupings that structure our lives. Society is relationships in families, kin, friendships, communities, markets, workplaces (both paid and unpaid) and a range of other institutions. How do customs, rituals, traditions, lore and law contribute to identity, belonging, exclusion and marginalisation? What affects the accumulation and dispersion of social and cultural capital, the development of social trust and distrust, and how do these relate to current debates on what makes societies civil and uncivil? What are the conflicts between the rights and responsibilities of citizenship? Students explore the exigencies of daily life and social relationships in widely varied settings: the urban, the local, the rural and regional in indigenous, diverse cultural and ethnic settings, both within and outside Australia.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On completion of this subject, students are expected to:

understand the current shifts in paradigms that underpin public debates on politics and society as neo-liberalism loses power and certain forms of globalisation are questioned
explore some recent research and discussions of concept such as social capital, community capacity, and social change
equip students with skills in social and organisational analysis useful for community activism and government service
understand the complex and diverse components of what is called civil society
be able to engage in debates about what is the right and the left, the third way, the third sector, communitarianism, social capital, democratic processes, participation, trust, duty, citizenship, social exclusion and inequality.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject is designed to add to:

theoretical knowledge and practical skills in social inquiry, research and advocacy
ability to research and analyse wider social and public issues as well as apply critical analytical perspectives to daily and personal life
awareness of, and have the knowledge to critically analyse social, political and cultural phenomena across time and space in local, national, regional and global contexts
possession of a critical understanding of, and an ability to engage with, the political and public policy processes, advocacy and social change.

Teaching and learning strategies

This course explores some very current debates on the possible relationships between community, market, state and the global. How do we theorise and understand the somewhat amorphous and under researched organisations that are increasingly influential in our lives. Included in what is sometimes called the third sector of civil society are green groups, faith groups, political parties, professional associations, sporting groups, service clubs, ethnic associations, cultural/arts groups, other voluntary organisations and the informal groupings of communities of interest, beliefs and location.

There will be a weekly lecture and then discussion. Students will present their findings on the community sector and contribute to the discussion of topics in the later weeks and must attend the final session. Each student will be expected to present twice during the semester, firstly a report on a selected organisation and secondly to present in one of the issues debates in the second part of the semester.

Content

There is increasing interest in what makes us social, rather than competing individual beings. Theorists, policy makers, politicians, business and financial institutions are rediscovering the power of social ties as the dominant economic model loses some of its credibility. Community as a concept in post industrial society, however ill defined, is back from its displacement by the economy. But somewhat alarmingly is often being touted as the solution for all social ills. Civil society has reappeared as a possible alternative or adjunct to market forces but it is again a very ill defined term which is sometimes being invested with significance as a possible replacement for the nation state in a more globalised power distribution.

This course has been designed to explore some of the current interests and debates in conversations and political rhetoric on such questions. After two decades of neo liberal and postmodern debates, there are social debates, often framed in neo and traditional conservative modes, about the roles of individuals and groups. Questions of similarities and difference are being re-examined in relation to questions about social cohesion and order.

Social capital, sustainability, community capacity building and place management are now established catchwords in policy debates but the assumptions under these debates have not been adequately explored. What is civil society? What is 'uncivil society'? Are we just individuals making contracts, or social beings who live through our connections? Is social cohesion always good or can solidarity become toxic through exclusion of the Other? What are the values in participation and democratic process? What are the contradictions and dangers in communal identity resulting in violence and populism? Have some of the extremes of globalisation and modernity, allied with neo-liberalism fed into fears and anxieties, which have revived desires for some older forms of communitarianism and monoculturalism which lead to prejudice and exclusions?

How do the media reflect and feed nostalgia for closed communities and escapes from modernity. Why are there so many media representations of village/rural/sea change/urban based communities? How do these relate to political and policy questions of local and regional problems? Can examples like 'riots' at Cronulla and Macquarie Fields illustrate the dilemmas in Australia? How do attitudes to asylum seekers, indigenous needs and Anzac cove illustrate present community cultural views?

Assessment

Assessment item 1: The Third Sector

Objective(s):	To develop skills in assessing organisations and applying the theory discussed to their analysis
Weighting:	Part A: initial note form report and presentation, 20% Part B: written up version incorporating further reading and the results of the class discussion 20%
Task:	The assignment involves each student presenting a profile of a selected community group, NGO or CBO which operates actively in the community, maybe offering services and/or as an advocacy group. The report you present will look at their operations and how they serve their defined stakeholders. These may be members, service users, particular interest groups, funders or other identifiable groups that may be involved in the organisation or affected by its operations. It may be a stand alone group or an identifiably separate part of a larger not for profit organisation. Please check your choice with me and co-presenter (if relevant) as it has to be approved to make sure it will work. The oral presentation will occur in class the first few weeks, and should cover the issues raised below. The written-up version will expand on the oral presentation, reflecting comments made and including further exploring of questions on how well it represents its constituency and whether it contributes to the common good. Version one should be in note form for the presentation, and handed in, followed up more fully in the final version to be handed in a fortnight later. Part A) To collect the necessary information on the way a not-for-profit organisation operates and the collation of this into a report for the class on how well that organisation serves its stakeholders, members and meets its stated and implicit purposes. NB Do not rely on Web pages only as these tend to present a very optimistic view of organisations. Possible questions for each organisation: ways of funding out who are their stakeholders and what do they do so you can report on what they claim to do What do they do? What are their stated objectives? Do they have members? If yes, who are the members? If yes, how representative are the members of the community they represent? Do they get new members each year? Do they offer services, events etc? Give examples.If yes, are these for member or clients? Or the public? Who funds them? (this helps work out their other stakeholders. User pays? Are they funded to offer particular services (contracts)? By whom? Or do they collect donations, untied grants? (Annual budget?) Do they have paid staff? If yes, how many? How many volunteers? Do they have a constituency? i.e. whom do they claim represent?(eg parents of handicapped adults, local sport players) Who isn't included – formally and de facto? Are there obvious gaps? What is their formal governance? Who is on the board/management committee? Are they elected? Do they have difficulty filling positions? Do they have much debate and discussion at meetings? Who makes the decisions? How do they deal with conflict? NB This information will be used for both parts of the assessment, though more reading and questions beyond the official story should occur for the second part. Some suggested organisations: please remember to check selection with me. For presentations – start week three about 15 minutes per organisation. You can combine with another student to undertake a study of a bigger more complex one with an extended report, but only with my approval and you have to submit separate Part B assignments. Advocacy group – ACOSS, refugees, welfare or other group Reconciliation group/multicultural/overseas aid Business lobby group – professional organisation – union A feminist group - men's group – conservative family group Service clubs – Rotary, Apex, Zonta, Soroptimists - CWA Political parties Liberal, Labor and Greens Differently abled groups – carers group Ethnic/national groupings – welfare, refugee/political, cultural Religious orders, faith based groups Sporting groups, sports training, Cultural groups: choirs, community arts, museum/gallery exhibition support, amateur performance, Heritage, progress association and local preservation Environmental groups local, regional, national international Welfare, community services. Part B) The report is to be about 1200/1500 words. This is not just an expansion of the above material but an analytical account of the organisation looking at issues of how they operate and who gains (or maybe loses as a result of their operations. Present the above material in terms of wider analysis, making intelligent use of the material, collected and reported in Part a), to place the organisation in a wider debate on community and civil society. Particular questions to address should include: What does the organisation contribute to the wellbeing of its members, particular communities and the wider society? Are there also negative aspects of the ways in which the organisation functions? How is it affected by its relationships with its funding bodies, the media or the need to raise money for its operations and whom it serves?
Assessment criteria:	Effective collection of the necessary information to understand both the formal and informal structures and cultures of an organisation. Manifest the ability to use material from lectures and reading to analyse the organisation's membership, power structures, capacities, problems and functions.

Assessment item 2: Online discussion contributions

Objective(s):	To develop skills in marshalling arguments and looking at contentious questions, using both academic reading and current media.
Weighting:	20% for both pieces of work ie 10% each
Task:	This involves two short pieces: you're preparing for and leading the discussion for one of the panels in the second part as well as preparing short statement for the final week's general debate of the semester and handing in your contribution. The objective is for them to present viewpoints on the topic chosen and set and be able to back these with evidence of reading and thinking. The week a student is participating, about 700 words is expected on the topic posted, after the discussion. The final contribution has to be 500 words and posted in the final week.
Assessment criteria:	Clarity and coherence of points selected and arguments put and awareness of counter arguments and debates Evidence of awareness of current issues and related media/public debates and their intelligent use in discussion.

Assessment item 3: An essay on a set topic

Objective(s):	To demonstrate skills utilising current ideas and debates to explore broader theoretical and disciplinary issues
Weighting:	40%
Length:	3000 words
Task:	An Essay on one of the following topics or a variant suggested by you and agreed by me by week 9! This Essay should be approximately 3000 words in length, involve substantial reading and must be properly referenced and contain a proper bibliography. Students should take a current issue and show their capacity to use wide reading and thinking in the areas of study covered to reflect on some major questions in ways which show both analytical skills and good understanding of complex social issues. List of Essays Community capacity building and social capital feed into policy objective for both State and Federal governments as ways of 'assisting' communities to 'cope' better with their own 'problems'. Looking at policies in this area, assess whether this is good or a means for off loading government responsibilities on the local communities. What does the execution of the Northern Territory Emergency Intervention Act (2007), initiated by the Howard govt. and continued under Rudd, tell us about the contemporary politics of (a) community consultation and empowerment (b) welfare and human service delivery, (c) the exercise of sovereignty over land and bodies, and (d) the tension between universal human rights and the recognition of distinct communities. Your answer may concentrate on one or more of (a), (b), (c) or (d). How useful or problematic are concepts like nation, culture or ethnicity in unifying community? Why is community one of the most difficult terms in social and political theory? Looking at a particular community organisation, consider how it generates 'community', represents itself as representing a community, and reproduces identities. How does it relate to the broader 'Australian community'? Does government funding and contracting present dangers to political independence and advocacy in the community sector? Should governments tender out services on the basis of competitive bids to the lowest bidder regardless of whether they are religious charities, commercial groups or other forms of community groups? What are the possible benefits and problems of such policies for the users of the services? Groups of both the nominal left and right can be found that support the idea of direct democracy and devolution, i.e. giving more power to local groups. What are the potential benefits and traps of such approaches? Does the rise of civil society reflect a deepening of democracy, or is it symptomatic of the declining legitimacy of representative democracy? As a social and political philosophy, neoliberalism arose to global power as an economic critique of the postwar welfare state. The discourse on social capital countered the economic individualism of market fundamentalism. In light of this debate, critique, compare and contrast community policy in one specific area (ie. reconcilation, immigration and ethnic affairs, gender, family policy, welfare service delivery) under Howard's market-based welfare model with research into the new Labour government's policy. Is the business model a good one for community groups to follow? What are the advantages and dangers of community groups adopting a business model? Is there a community model that has been lost under the assumption that efficiency and business models are the way to go? There have been moves by governments to encourage business to partner community groups in funding projects. Are there problems in increasing the levels of corporate funding of NGOs/ CBO's? Who decides priorities? Some of the bigger 'charities' are now big businesses turning over multiple millions of government funding. Governments seem to prefer funding large bureaucracies which raises questions of whether big community service agencies becoming a threat to smaller local agencies. Is there a Walmart effect of larger agencies absorbing smaller local ones? Evaluate the positive and negative features of 'on-line communities'. What features do they share with off-line communites and what is unique to the virtual world? Choose two examples which demonstrate different aspects of on-line communities.
Assessment criteria:	High level comprehension and analytical treatment of concepts Evidence of awareness of current debates and public issues Evidence of extensive research into relevant literature and empirical cases Selective use of evidence in developing a coherent argument Clarity/succinctness of writing Appropriate referencing and bibliography

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Indicative references

Students are required to do background reading relevant to weekly topics, as evidenced by informed participation in class debates and the ability to report on what they have read if asked by their tutor. These readings are on the Library's ereadings resources register.

You are also expected to read as widely as possible, both from books, academic journals, media and the publications of non-government organizations. Additional relevant material will be provided on UTSOnline. Eva Cox's Boyer lectures; A Truly Civil Society (ABC books 1995) is a useful starting point and indicator of where the course came from some years ago.

The following readings can be used as starting points.
Anderson, B, (1991), Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, Verso: London,.

Anderson, K, (1999), 'Reflections on Redfern' E. Stratford ed. Australian Cultural Geographies, Oxford University Press: Oxford.

Arendt, H, (1958), The Human Condition, The University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

Barraket, J (2008), Strategic Issues in the Not-for-Profit Sector, UNSW Press: Sydney (not in UTS library but worth ordering in).

Bird, J (ed), (1998), Mapping the Future, Local Cultures, Global Change, Routledge: London.

Botsman, P, Latham, M, (eds), (2001), The Enabling State - People before bureaucracy, Pluto: Sydney.

Bowden, P., (1997), Caring: Gender-Sensitive Ethics, Routledge: UK; particularly the chapter on citizenship.

Cox, E, (1995), A Truly Civil Society 1995 Boyer Lectures, ABC Books, Sydney.

Everingham, C, (2003), Social Justice and the Politics of Community, Ashgate Publishing Ltd: Aldergate.

Featherstone, M., ed (1990), Global Culture, Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity, Sage Publications: London.

Ellin, Nan (ed) (1997), Architecture of Fear, Princeton Architectural Press: New York.

Gilroy, Paul, (1991), 'It ain't where you're from, it's where you're at… The dialectics of diasporic identification', Third Text, Vol. 13.

Fukuyama, F. (1995) Trust: the social virtues and the creation of prosperity,Penguin: UK.

Glover, D, Patmore, G, (eds), (2000), For The People - Labor Essays 2001, Pluto Press: Sydney.

Hudson, W, Kane, J, (eds), (2000), Rethinking Australian Citizenship, (various chapters on a range of areas, chose relevant ones to your interest areas), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Kerr, D, (2001), Elect the Ambassador! Building Democracy in a Globalised World, Pluto Press, Sydney.

Kasinitz, P, (ed), (1995), Metropolis, Centre and Symbol of our Times, Macmillan Press: London.

Krygier, M. 1997, Between Hope and Fear; Hybrid Thoughts on Public Values, 1997 Boyer Lectures, ABC Books: Sydney.

Massey, D, (1994), Space,Place and Gender, Polity Press: London.

Misztal, B. (1995) Trust in Modern Society, Polity:UK.

Nancy, J-L , 1991, The Inoperative Community, University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, MN.

Nussbaum, M, (1999), Sex and Social Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Onyx, J, (1996), Social Capital: Theory and measurement, CACOM, Lindfield, NSW.

Paine, T, (1995), Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, Oxford University Press: Oxford.

Putnam, R, (2000), Bowling Alone. The collapse and revival of American Community, Simon and Schuster: New York.

Rose, N, (1999), Powers of Freedom. Reframing Political Thought, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (especially chapters 3 and 5).

Vasta, E, (ed), (2000), Citizenship, Community and Democracy, Macmillan Press: UK.

Warren, M, (ed), (1999), Democracy and Trust, Cambridge University Press: UK.

Warburton, J. and Oppenheim, M. eds (2000) Volunteers and Volunteering, Federation Press: Sydney.

Winter, I, (ed), (2000), Social Capital and Public Policy in Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies: Australia.

NB: This list is not intended to be comprehensive but mainly to guide you into areas not so easily identified by some library searches and recent material. I expect you to look for further, and for writings more relevant to your essay topics.

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