Communitarianism

Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely moulded by community relationships, with a smaller degree of development being placed on individualism. Although the community might be a family, communitarianism usually is understood, in the wider, philosophical sense, as a collection of interactions, among a community of people in a given place (geographical location), or among a community who share an interest or who share a history. As a political philosophy, communitarians emphasize the importance of the family and intermediary institutions of civil society, such as churches, charities, and other voluntary associations, understood as non-coercive social structures that stand apart from both collectivism (exercised in the form of state authority) and individualism. In Europe, communitarian ideas are often associated with Christian democratic traditions, with notable communitarian parties being the German CDU, the Dutch CDA and the Austrian ÖVP.