Communitarianism

This page covers communitarianism in terms of politics. For a page on communitarianism from a philosophical perspective, see the File:Philosophyball icon.png Philosophyball Page

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"It is the well being, not of individuals, but of the community which makes a state great; and, without question, this universal well-being is nowhere secured save in a republic."

File:Niccolo Machiavelli.png Niccolò Machiavelli

Communitarianism is a non-quadrant political philosophy and ideology emphasizing the wellbeing of and the importance of the community as the primary social unit.

Communitarianism generally advocates File:Syncretic.png Syncretic positions on economics and social issues. He will typically stress the idea that the left-right binary of politics is holding politics back, as well as arguing that policies from both sides of the spectrum are complementary and necessary to benefit the community. Many ideologies that are traditionally socially right-wing and economically left-wing without straying into outright File:Col.png Collectivism could be considered Communitarian in nature.

Communitarianism can be contrasted with File:Col.png Collectivism, with whom he is often compared, in that Communitarianism usually stresses cohesion and outward wellbeing rather than submission to a collective. He may view individual and collective interests as ultimately complementary, as it is in the best interest of individuals to participate in and align their lives with society. In this way he is not fundamentally anti-individualist, but rather believes absolute individualism is harmful when it contradicts with the common good.

File:Nolanchartcommunitarian.svg

Communitarianism as placed on a Nolan Chart, considered the meeting point of community-based social and economic alignment.

The modern theories of Communitarianism were elaborated in the 1980s by several political philosophers of the File:Radcent.png Radical Centrist school of thought, based primarily on descriptive statements on the perceived falsehood of File:Clib.png Classical Liberal conceptions of society as a purely voluntary and rational association arising from individual choice. After a brief two decade-long life in academia, the ideology has largely fallen out of favour as a strict philosophy.

Beliefs

Community

Communitarians believe that communities are the foundation of society and prioritize the collective well-being of these communities over individual desires. They argue that individuals are deeply interconnected with and influenced by the social environment in which they live. This perspective underscores the significance of fostering strong and supportive communities to promote overall societal health.

Central to communitarianism is the idea of social responsibility. Communitarians stress the importance of individuals recognizing and fulfilling their obligations to contribute positively to the welfare of their communities. They believe that each member of society has a responsibility to actively engage in efforts to enhance the common good and address social challenges.

Communitarians critique excessive individualism, which they see as detrimental to social cohesion and solidarity. They argue that an overemphasis on individual rights and freedoms can erode the sense of community and weaken social ties. Communitarians advocate for a more balanced approach that recognizes the importance of individual autonomy while also acknowledging the interconnectedness of individuals within the community.

Shared Values and Norms

Communitarians advocate for the cultivation of shared values and norms within communities. They contend that a cohesive and harmonious society is built upon commonly accepted principles that guide behavior and interactions among its members. These shared values serve as a unifying force, fostering solidarity and cooperation within the community.

Communitarians encourage active participation in civic life and community affairs. They believe that individuals should be actively involved in decision-making processes and civic initiatives aimed at addressing social issues and improving community well-being. Civic engagement fosters a sense of empowerment and ownership among community members, strengthening social bonds and promoting collective action.

Social Capital

Communitarians place significant emphasis on the concept of social capital, which encompasses the networks, relationships, and trust that exist within a community. They view social capital as a vital resource that contributes to the functioning and resilience of society. Strong social capital facilitates cooperation, collaboration, and mutual support among community members, ultimately leading to a more cohesive and vibrant community.

Communitarians advocate for a balanced approach that acknowledges both individual rights and collective responsibilities. While affirming the value of individual freedoms, they emphasize the importance of exercising these freedoms within the context of social and moral obligations to the community. This balanced approach seeks to reconcile individual autonomy with the broader interests of the community.

Variants

File:SocialCommun.png Social Communitarianism

Social Communitarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes the balance between individual rights and community responsibilities, emerging as a response to the perceived excesses of both neoliberal individualism and state-centered socialism. Rooted in the belief that social cohesion and mutual obligation are essential for stable societies, it draws on the traditions of File:Patcon.pngpaternalistic conservatism while integrating elements of File:Progconsoc.pngprogressive conservatism to adapt conservative principles to modern social challenges. The philosophy often frames economic policy and governance around the protection and support of local communities, labor structures, and civic institutions.

Economically, Social Communitarianism critiques policies associated with free-market orthodoxy. It is File:AntiAusterity.pnganti-austerity and File:AntiNeoLib.pnganti-neoliberalism, advocating for targeted social programs and government interventions that support workers and vulnerable populations, while rejecting blanket deregulation or fiscal austerity as socially corrosive. These stances align with social democracy, though Social Communitarianism differs in its emphasis on community responsibility and the moral obligations of citizens and employers, rather than solely focusing on redistribution. The ideology also endorses File:PolLab.pngpolice labourism, valuing law enforcement and public sector work as integral to maintaining social stability.

The philosophy maintains a cautious approach toward immigration, expressing File:AntiImmigration.pnganti-immigration sentiment in some strands, arguing that social integration requires cultural cohesion and the maintenance of established communal norms. Trade unions and worker organizations play a critical role in this framework, with File:SyndieSam.pngtrade unionism being central to negotiating fair labor conditions and preserving the health of local economies. Factional expressions, such as the UK'sFile:BlueLabour.png Blue Labour, blend traditional conservatism with a pro-worker ethos, demonstrating how Social Communitarianism can integrate File:Consocf.pngconservative socialism into practical politics.

Social Communitarianism seeks to mediate between liberal individualism, welfare statism, and market-driven globalization. Its advocates argue for governance that fosters civic virtue, social solidarity, and a moral framework for economic life, aiming to create a society where communal well-being and personal responsibility reinforce each other rather than conflict. This ideological stance has influenced contemporary debates on labor rights, economic nationalism, and the ethical role of the state in shaping civil society.

History

File:Deneen.png Deneenism

Deneenism is a contemporary American political philosophy rooted in critiques of modern liberalism and libertarianism. It emerged from the writings of Patrick J. Deneen, whose scholarship emphasizes the social and cultural consequences of unrestrained individualism and market-centric governance. The ideology is closely associated with the File:USASolidarity.pngAmerican Solidarity Party, reflecting a commitment to blending civic responsibility with ethical governance grounded in tradition and community.

At its core, Deneenism champions File:Authcon.pngauthoritarian conservatism tempered by moral and civic frameworks. It draws heavily on File:CathDem.pngCatholic democracy, advocating for the application of religiously informed ethics in public life while opposing secularist and eugenicist currents, evident in its stance File:Anti-Eugen.pngagainst eugenicism. The philosophy resists the extremes of liberal individualism and libertarian freedom, promoting File:Postlibr.pngpost-liberalism as a corrective to what it sees as societal fragmentation caused by modern liberalism.

Deneenism also emphasizes File:ConPat.pngconservative paternalism, File:Local.pnglocalism, and File:Semidirect.pngparticipatory democracy, reflecting a belief in civic engagement at the community level rather than reliance on centralized authority. Influences from File:Lasch.pngLaschism manifest in critiques of narcissistic individualism, while File:AlexisdeTocqueville.pngTocquevilleism informs its understanding of social cohesion, civil associations, and the dangers of cultural decay in democratic societies. Politically, the framework aligns with File:Plcn2.pngpaleoconservatism, blending moral traditionalism, communal responsibility, and skepticism toward globalist and technocratic governance.

The ideology’s blend of civic ethics, religious moralism, and localist governance positions it as a distinct alternative to both mainstream American liberalism and libertarian conservatism. Its appeal lies in advocating for a socially cohesive, morally grounded polity that balances authority with active citizen participation, countering what Deneen identifies as the overreach of market and state forces in contemporary society.

File:Macintyre2.png MacIntyreism

Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre is a Scottish-American philosopher who has contributed to moral and political philosophy as well as history of philosophy and theology.MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of Anglophone moral and political philosophy in the 20th century. He is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics (CASEP) at London Metropolitan University, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and Permanent Senior Distinguished Research Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.

Politically, MacIntyre's ethics informs a defence of the Aristotelian 'goods of excellence' internal to practices against the modern pursuit of 'external goods', such as money, power, and status, that are characteristic of rule-based, utilitarian, Weberian modern institutions. He has been described as a 'revolutionary Aristotelian' because of his attempt to combine historical insights from his Marxist past with those of Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle after MacIntyre's conversion to Catholicism. For him, liberalism and postmodern consumerism not only justify capitalism but also sustain and inform it over the long term. At the same time, he says that "Marxists have always fallen back into relatively straightforward versions of Kantianism or utilitarianism" (After Virtue, p. 261) and criticises Marxism as just another form of radical individualism. He says about Marxists that "as they move towards power they always tend to become Weberians." Informed by that critique, Aristotelianism loses its sense of elitist complacency; moral excellence ceases to be part of a particular, historical practice in ancient Greece and becomes a universal quality of those who understand that good judgment emanates from good character.

MacIntyre criticizes individualist political philosophy, such as John Rawls' A Theory of Justice and Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia. To MacIntyre, morals and virtues can only be comprehended through their relation to the community which they come from. Whereas Rawls tells us to conceive of justice through abstracting ourselves from who we are (through the veil of ignorance, for example) MacIntyre disagrees. Running throughout After Virtue is the belief that in order to comprehend who we are, we must understand where we come from.

File:LeftNC.png Neo-Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Neo-Confucianism is a modern intellectual movement in China that seeks to reinterpret classical Confucian thought for contemporary governance and social issues. It evolved as a response to both Western liberalism and radical Marxist ideologies, combining the ethical and moral frameworks of File:NC.pngNeo-Confucianism with pragmatic approaches to statecraft and social cohesion. The movement draws heavily on the teachings of File:YangMing.pngYangming, emphasizing the unity of knowledge and action, moral self-cultivation, and the importance of individual conscience in ethical governance.

The philosophy advocates File:BurMerit.pngbureaucratic meritocracy and File:Ratleg.pngrational-legal authority, arguing that effective governance requires a highly educated and morally upright administrative class. At the same time, it balances this with File:PatConAuth.pngpaternalistic conservatism, reflecting a belief that the state has a moral duty to guide society while protecting traditional cultural values. File:Cultnat.pngCultural nationalism and File:Socnat.pngsocial nationalism are also central, promoting a strong Chinese identity rooted in shared heritage, ethics, and collective responsibility.

Neo-Neo-Confucianism incorporates principles of File:Humanismpix.pnghumanism, File:Utility.pngutilitarianism, and File:Socjust.pngsocial justice, signaling an openness to ethical governance that improves societal welfare while maintaining hierarchical order. It engages with secular and modern institutions, advocating File:Secular.pngsecularism in governance while preserving Confucian ethical teachings as a moral compass for both rulers and citizens.

Factions within Neo-Neo-Confucianism reflect the spectrum of contemporary Chinese political thought. File:CHNNeocon.pngChinese Neoconservatism emphasizes tradition, moral order, and cautious reform; the File:ChineseNewLeft.pngChinese New Left integrates Confucian ethics with social equity and economic justice; and strands influenced by File:Hujintao.pngHu Jintao Thought and File:XiJinpingThoughtf.pngXi Jinping Thought focus on harmonizing Confucian ethics with centralized state authority, nationalism, and developmental governance. Overall, Neo-Neo-Confucianism functions as both a philosophical foundation and a guide for modern policy-making, blending ethical rigor with practical governance imperatives.

File:Saemaul.png Saemaul Undong/New Village Movement

The Saemaul Undong, or New Village Movement, was a socio-economic initiative launched in South Korea during the 1970s under the leadership of President File:ParkChungHee.pngPark Chung Hee. It emerged in the aftermath of the Korean War as part of a broader push to modernize rural areas, reduce poverty, and integrate agrarian communities into the national development project. Park’s administration viewed rural underdevelopment as a structural obstacle to industrialization, and the movement aimed to transform traditional villages into self-reliant, cooperative, and productive units.

At its core, the movement emphasized File:AgCoopTrees.pngagrarian cooperativism, encouraging villagers to collectively improve infrastructure, agricultural productivity, and local governance. These cooperative practices were closely tied to File:PatConAuth.pngpaternalistic conservatism, reflecting Park’s belief in a hierarchical but morally guided leadership that would guide communities toward economic and social progress. Villagers were provided resources, training, and oversight while being expected to participate actively in communal labor and development projects.

The program also demonstrated elements of File:AuthDevelop.pngauthoritarian developmentalism, as participation and direction were often top-down, with the state exercising significant control over planning, resource allocation, and progress monitoring. This approach allowed rapid implementation of projects such as road construction, irrigation systems, and electrification, aligning local development with the national economic agenda.

File:PlanCorp.pngPlanned corporatism further shaped the movement, linking village cooperatives with regional and national economic planning. The initiative integrated the private and public sectors by coordinating agricultural output, local enterprises, and state investment, creating a structured network that reinforced the developmental goals of the state while fostering a sense of community participation. Overall, Saemaul Undong reflects a blend of cooperative rural reform, state-led modernization, and guided social transformation under the ideological framework of Park Chung Hee’s governance.

How to Draw

File:Communitarianism flag.svg

Flag of Communitarianism

1. Draw a ball.
2. Color it orange.
3. Draw a white weighing scale in it.
4. Add the eyes.

You're done!

Color Name		HEX	RGB
	Orange	#FF8801	rgb(255, 136, 1)
	White	#FFFFFF	rgb(255, 255, 255)

Relationships

Friends

• File:Patcon.png Paternalistic Conservatism - My best friend, truly cares about our traditions and communities.
• File:Cdem.png Christian Democracy - You have been my greatest ally, especially in Italy, and my policies got through thanks to you.
• File:SynOneNat.png One-Nationism - My best friend on the British isles.
• File:Conservative.png Conservatism - Values must be upheld through a strong community body.
• File:Progconf.png Progressive Conservatism - Protecting minorities while upholding the common good is fantastic.
• File:Civnat.png Civic Nationalism - The nation is a community.
• File:Intercult.png Interculturalism - Perfect, we all must unite as a single community.
• File:Corptism.png Corporatism - Pretty much my economic views, we all need to unite no matter our wealth or social relation to production.
• File:Christsoc.png Christian Socialism - Christian and progressive values along with economic equality and a worker and community centric economic system? Based!
• File:Socauth.png Social Authoritarianism - A strong state that protects all is exactly what we need!
• File:DefDem.png Defensive Democracy - You fix the problems of democracy by preventing extremists from using it to tear our community apart!
• File:Utsoc.png Utopian Socialism - I form the basis of most of your theories.

Frenemies

• File:Ethplur.png Nouvelle Droite - Big fans of my social theories, but racism tears us apart.
• File:Cultnat.png Cultural Nationalism - You talk a lot of sense from time to time, immigrants can threaten our society but diversity can also be a strength and you do divide our society just like how immigrants do.
• File:Multicult.png Multiculturalism - And you have the exact opposite problem, we can't just let anyone come in we need to integrate so that our community is whole.
• Socialism - Your economy for all not just the few sounds good but you tend to divide the community between the proletariat and the bourgeoise, we all need to get along and work together.
• File:Local.png Localism - Sounds good, but what about larger scale communities like the nation, cities and the world?
• File:3way.png Third Way - In theory you are really great, merging File:Patcon.png conservatism with File:Consocf.png socialism, but in reality you just merge File:Conlib.png him with him.
• File:Prog-u.png Progressivism - The march for black lives begins with all of us, as a community, but your identity politics is quite divisive.
• File:Trad.png Traditionalism - Traditions only have value when they uphold the common good, or else they are just an excuse to exclude members of the community.
• Social Democracy - In practice you tend to implement my vision the best, but I still find you too individualist like File:3way.png him.
• File:Consocf.png Conservative Socialism - Generally good but I am not a fan of your embrace of conservative idpol and divisive socialism. Why can't you be like File:Christsoc.png him?
• File:Pop.png Populism - The elites and elitism, if they exist, should be not longer in power and be more like us, but your rabblerousing is a threat to the unity of our community.

Enemies

• File:Autarch.png Autarchy - The community is important too!
• File:Anego.png Anarcho-Egoism - Society is good, dammit!
• File:Anin.png Anarcho-Individualism - Selfish prick.
• File:Illeg.png Illegalism &File:Klep.png Kleptocracy& File:Avar.png Avaritionism - Absolute menaces to the community. I can only hope that these bastards get caught before they cause more damage.
• File:Conlib.png Conservative Liberalism - Disgrace to the conservative name, you divide society and sell entire countries off to the highest bidder.
• File:Neoliberal-icon.png Neoliberalism - Just the above but even worse because you support mass immigration and social permissiveness without Socdem's responsibility.
• Marxism–Leninism - I get the appeal of a strong state to protect the working class but your hateful, destructive revolutionism and genocide divides communities along class lines.
• Capitalism - Sorry but the community is more important than profit.
• File:Synd.png Syndicalism - Owners, managers and the unemployed are also part of our community.

Further Information

Literature

• The Spirit of Community: Rights, Responsibilities and the Communitarian Agenda by File:Radcent.png Amitai Etzioni
• Community: A Sociological Study by File:Pac.png Robert Morrison MacIver
• Liberalism and the Limits of Justice by File:Civic Republicanism.png Michael Sandel

Wikipedia

• Communitarianism

YouTube

Videos

• The Appeal To Community by File:SFO.png ShortFatOtaku

Gallery

• By File:METBOL.png User:Muddy Mudkipz
  By File:METBOL.png User:Muddy Mudkipz
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