Despite the recovery of the traditions of community in public philosophy, political science, and organizational studies, little attention has been given to the social construction of the meaningfulness of community by organizational members. This study examined the ways in which the term community was central to the discourse and organizing practices of a community service organization. Organizational practices referenced both organizational and cultural significances particularly in the conflicting traditions and themes of individualism and social commitment. In addition, “community service” blurred the boundaries between the external and internal workings of the organization. Emphasizing the relationships between cultural systems of signification and meaningful practices of organizing provided a way of understanding the increasingly less clear boundaries of the postmodern organization.
Performing community: Community service as cultural conversation
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.