This book sheds new light on the complex inter-relations that make up class, power, local history and space. It turns community thinking on its head by understanding community not as an object but as a relational process with sociality at its core. Based on fieldwork from one market town and the work of Hannah Arendt, it demonstrates how a new approach to social practices can illuminate our understanding of commonality and communal being. Whilst community has become both a much-derided and much-touted term, this thought-provoking work shows that it is at the heart of social process. It will appeal to researchers of sociology, social policy, politics, public health and geography, as well as those involved in public policy design and implementation.

David Studdert is Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK.