Community Informatics

Abstract Submitted for:
NMDS 5004: Understanding Media Studies Fall 08
Professor Shannon Mattern, PHD

Goodwin, Ian. Community Informatics, Local Community and Conflict: Investigating Under-Researched Elements of a Developing Field of Study (Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Studies 2008) pg. 419 – 437

Community Informatics (CI) is a relatively new field of study that is approached from multiple disciplines including sociology, computer science, education, management, and development studies. Community Informatics is the practice of combining information and communication technology (ICT) with the intent to support local communities that have been marginalized by globalization through the empowerment of individuals by providing universal access to ICT. The development of Community Informatics is a direct response to the corporate led development of ICT systems that have centralized and concentrated economic capital within a select group of communities.

In his article Community Informatics, Local Community and Conflict, Ian Goodwin presents arguments around a central thesis that conflict is an overlooked area of CI research and more importantly, conflict plays a vital role in shaping the outcomes of any CI initiative by shaping the appropriation and implementation of internet technology which is at the heart of any CI community development initiative.

The article is presented in three parts. First Goodwin defines the function of CI initiatives and defines the socio-political and economic forces that have given CI’s there political agenda. Herein the concept of social capital is introduced, as are the inherent external pressures on local communities as a result of the restructuring of business and government agencies based upon the development of the ‘global knowledge network’.

The second section of the article presents a historical perspective on the definition of community. Goodwin presents a historic account of the dominant social theories around community, particularly the initial ideas that focused on of the Urban-Rural continuum that was prevalent prior to the seventies. In this theory the primary assertion was ‘where we live affects how we live.’ In the 70’s these causal-relationship theories were disputed based upon the research of Young and Wilmont published in the 1957 book Family and Kinship in East London which was further articulated by the seminal article by A. Cohen The Symbolic Construction of Community (1985). Cohen’s work didn’t remove locality but rather sought to view community as not being limited by structural or physical boundaries. “Thus, local communities, despite their physical and territorial nature are understood as social constructions created through the maintenance of symbolic boundaries.”

“The quintessential referent of community is that its members make or believe they make, a similar sense of things either generally or with respect to specific and significant interests, and further, that that sense may differ from one made elsewhere.” (Cohen 1985;16)

Contemporary theory further disputes the homogenous nature of communities and has looked at conflict as an important element to be acknowledged within any locality and community. Internal conflict can be seen as necessary for vitality within a community or in extreme cases conflict can result in the subordination of members of a community through segregation and discrimination.

This leads to Goodwin’s primary thesis that Community Informatics has thus far overlooked internal conflict within online communities and the impact it has on the ability of a CI to attain it’s political goals. Goodwin uses a combination of discourse analysis, face-to-face interviews, and document analysis to explore a case study of a CI initiative in Moseley England that was dramatically affected by conflict.

The analysis of community theory and this case study reveal that communities are built on shared community symbols but are inherently filled with internal conflict based upon individual members agenda and differing social capital. Community Informatics’ purpose and functionality is based upon the development of community, which is in turn shaped by these internal conflicts. These conflicts ultimately morph the original objectives of the CI and shape its outcome, often to the detriment of the original stated goal. In the Moseley case study the original intent of increase diversity within the community was not accomplished. The internal conflict resulted in a break-off online community that utilized the internet technology in a different manner than the original e-group and ultimately did not develop the diversity within the community as was the CI’s original intent. This makes Goodwin’s point that there is a need for further research into internal community conflict and it’s impact on community development and regeneration efforts.