Association, Sociability, and Civic Culture: The Democratic Effect of Community Gardening

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the democratic values of community garden leaders and non-leaders with the intent to understand the democratic effects of participation in community gardening. The results support Putnam's (2000) assertion that the intensity of membership in voluntary associations is important to the development of democratic citizens. Moreover, the findings reveal the salience of context, namely a leisure-oriented context, in imbuing democratic values. Time spent in a community garden was a stronger, albeit weak, predictor of political citizenship orientations than was time spent talking and visiting with other community gardeners, which implied the significance of the garden space and its public sphere effects.

Keywords:

• democratic effects
• sociability
• voluntary associations
• community gardening
• social capital

The authors thank Jennifer Warkins for her research assistance, Gateway Greeningfor sharing its database, the University of Illinois Research Board for its financial support for this research project, and John L. Hemingway for his incredibly insightful comments and suggestions.

Notes

^*Items were measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale that ranged from “very strongly agree” (5) to “very strongly disagree” (1). Higher scores indicate higher value.