The Graywolf Annual Ten: Changing Community

For nearly all of human history, our notion of community was centered on the family, tribe, and/or village. The centrality of that notion is at the core of our values. The 20th century brought air travel, a revolution in communications, the internationalization of culture and business, the growth of an "international language"--all in all, a complete overturning of our historic understanding of community.

As a result, we now have to think about the many different levels and many new faces of community. Our families are nuclear, extended, and broken; few of us live in one place our entire lives, and most of our cities, towns, and regions change beyond recognition every few years. The concept of the nation-state itself is breaking down, and people are more closely identifying with biogegional, religious, or ethnic communities.

Incorporating essays from a diverse range of sources such as Parabola, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, the New Yorker, and The Well, a national computerized bulletin board, Changing Community examines the ways that our ideas of community are evolving.

For nearly all of human history, our notion of community was centered on the family, tribe, and/or village. The centrality of that notion is at the core of our values. The 20th century brought air travel, a revolution in communications, the internationalization of culture and business, the growth of an "international language"--all in all, a complete overturning of our historic understanding of community.

As a result, we now have to think about the many different levels and many new faces of community. Our families are nuclear, extended, and broken; few of us live in one place our entire lives, and most of our cities, towns, and regions change beyond recognition every few years. The concept of the nation-state itself is breaking down, and people are more closely identifying with biogegional, religious, or ethnic communities.

Incorporating essays from a diverse range of sources such as Parabola, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, the New Yorker, and The Well, a national computerized bulletin board, Changing Community examines the ways that our ideas of community are evolving.