Summary of "The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Communitarian Agenda"

Summary of

The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Communitarian Agenda

by Amitai Etzioni

Summary written by Conflict Research Consortium Staff

Citation: The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities, and the Communitarian Agenda, Amitai Etzioni, (New York: Crown Publishers,1993), 323 pp.

Section one addresses the issue of moral reconstruction. During the 1960s many moral traditions, social values and institutions were challenged or rejected. However, a new core of values has not arisen to fill the void. The "moral confusion" left in the wake of the sixties has eroded the "notion of a shared community or public interest" and hence has encouraged fragmentation and conflict within society. Chapter one emphasizes the link between rights and obligations. Chapters two and three focus on the need to revalue children, and the importance of providing a moral education in shared values. Shared values arise from strong communities, and so chapters four and five discuss ways to rebuild local and national communities.

Section two explores this paradox: contemporary Americans have both a "strong sense of entitlement" and a "weak sense of obligation to the local and national community." We claim too many rights while recognizing too few responsibilities. Chapter six suggests a strategy for promoting civil responsibilities while avoiding authoritarian state control, focusing on responsibilities toward public safety and public health. Chapter seven further illustrates this strategy by describing non-legal remedies to the problem of hate speech.

Section three argues that the current political dominance of special interest groups subverts the public interest. Chapter eight diagnoses the situation, and describes the detrimental influence of political action committees (PACs) on the democratic process. Chapter nine outlines a response to the problem, and calls for a massive social movement to implement these reforms. The Communitarian platform is included in appendix.

The Spirit of Community offers both a sweeping re-visioning of contemporary society, and specific strategies for promoting social cohesion and social responsibility.