Understanding Community is a practical guide to understanding policies and underlying theories relating to community. This substantially revised edition draws upon theories from Marx and Bourdieu to offer a clearer understanding of community in capitalist society. Peter Somerville presents a close examination of government policies in areas such as economic development, education, health care, housing, and safety and sets them in the context of our understanding of crucial concepts like community cohesion, social capital, and capacity building. The book also explores the dark side of...

Understanding Community is a practical guide to understanding policies and underlying theories relating to community. This substantially revised edition draws upon theories from Marx and Bourdieu to offer a clearer understanding of community in capitalist society. Peter Somerville presents a close examination of government policies in areas such as economic development, education, health care, housing, and safety and sets them in the context of our understanding of crucial concepts like community cohesion, social capital, and capacity building. The book also explores the dark side of...

Immigration, particularly asylum, has become a major political issue in Britain and Europe and its impact on welfare, employment and 'social cohesion' highly contested. While asylum policy has become more punitive, dependence on immigrant labour has been increasingly acknowledged by governments which attempt to 'manage' migration to secure the benefits without the presumed costs. The book provides an essential background to understanding these debates. Based on documentary sources and primary research, it focuses mainly on Britain within an international and European context. The first part...