Robert Nisbet and the Problem of Community

The article traces the importance and development of the concept of ‘community’ in Robert Nisbet’s sociological theory. Community and voluntary associations were key components of his view of civil society, because they stood between the individual and the state as bastions of personal liberty against authoritarianism. This idea was taken from Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of America democracy and developed by Nisbet as a critique of modern America. The article examines the conservative underpinnings of Nisbet’s sociology and compares his perspective on civil society with the idea of civil religion in J-J Rousseau and Robert Bellah. Nisbet’s perspective is criticised because not all voluntary associations have beneficial effects on civil society. The article considers how far his views on authority and community are still relevant and concludes by making a distinction between ‘sticky societies’ that are hard to join and difficult to leave and ‘elastic societies’ that are easy to join and cost-free to leave, and asks whether community is possible when the Internet has transformed sticky relationships into elastic, thin and dispersed relationships.     

Conducting and utilizing evaluation for multiple accountabilities: A study of nonprofit evaluation capacities

This article combines the evaluation capacity building and nonprofit accountability literature to examine how nonprofits use evaluation data to address stakeholder expectations. Our study investigates how staff competency, technological resources, learning climate, and strategic planning influence a nonprofit's ability to demonstrate upward, lateral, and downward accountabilities. Results indicate different combinations of evaluation capacities matter more for particular stakeholder groups. We argue a more integrative nonprofit accountability requires that managers and staff know how to utilize evaluation results for internal and external audiences. Nuances between specific evaluative capacities and their influences on multiple accountabilities suggest several implications for practice.     

To Join or Not to Join: Gay-Straight Student Alliances and the High School Experiences of Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender Youths

This retrospective study investigates 79 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students’ experiences attending high schools with gay-straight student alliances (GSAs). Responses to two, open-ended survey questions were analyzed thematically to identify reasons that underlie GSA non-membership and to model facets of GSAs that may impact the GSA-related experiences of LGBT youths. Three frames of reference for understanding GSA non-membership and perceptions of GSAs emerged. Implications for predicting GSA membership and identifying protective mechanisms of GSAs are outlined. Suggestions to help GSA leaders and advisors enhance specific aspects of GSAs that appear to be associated with positive perceptions of GSAs are also provided.     

Enclosures,Enclaves, and Entrapment*

The article takes a position against recent theories of globalization and mobility by arguing that there are important trends toward increased immobility. Whereas goods travel relatively freely in a global market, the same cannot be said for people. Various forms of immobility are explored through the key notion of enclaves. While ghettoes and wall building have been traditional aspects of the enclosure of people, the article argues that new biological technologies offer enhanced methods of tracking and containing people. The principal cause behind these developments is a greater emphasis on securitization by the state and hence globalization theories are criticized insofar as they propose that state borders have become more porous.     

Targeting Spatial Clusters of Elderly Consumers in the U.S.A

For business demographers, a noteworthy aspect of national population aging is the course of its onset at local scales, such as neighborhoods and individual city blocks. Across the U. S., particular neighborhoods are evolving through aging in place into de facto retirement communities, populated by elderly residents who continue to live independently. An increasingly common manifestation of this development is the so-called naturally occurring retirement community (NORC)—a neighborhood where adults have stayed on and grown old while younger people have drifted away. NORCs materialize gradually over time where initial cohorts settle in close proximity and age in place, while subsequent younger cohorts move away. These settings offer novel opportunities for prolonging independent living in old age. They constitute distinctive readymade consumer markets as well, especially for businesses that rely on word of mouth. We present a general approach to spotting NORCs. We then consider such enclaves as potential target markets, both for community planners aiming to centralize service delivery to the elderly and for businesses offering types of services that can be bundled profitably for these residential concentrations of elderly.