Community: The Darker Side (WisCon 28 panel)
Political, Economic, and Social Issues•Capitol A• Saturday, 1:00–2:15 p.m.
Fans tend to speak of community with romanticism bordering on reverence. Granted, community is what many of us lack in our urban, 21st––century existences. There are things that community can give us that we desperately need: fellowship, a social safety net, a feeling of belonging, a set of values with which to structure our lives, a sense of continuity with the past and future. But when people leave small towns and head for the big city, it's often for very good reasons. Communities enforce norms (sometimes very strictly), exclude or scapegoat people, conflict with the desire for privacy, and sometimes erupt in feuds. And being a member of a community, even a strong and healthy one, even the "right" community for a particular person, may not meet all of that person's needs. What are some of the drawbacks of community? How can we recognize these drawbacks as we build community? What do we expect from community that it can't deliver?