Community: The Structure of Belonging

In COMMUNITY - The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block provides an articulation of community feelings, wants and beliefs many of us have felt inside but haven't always had words to express. The book provides an antidote to the typical conversations about community that focus on fears, poor leadership, lack of funding, crime, safety, joblessness and other issues familiar to every city, village and neighborhood. It presents a methodology for convening powerful conversations about possibility, ownership and gifts, replacing the familiar conversations of problem solving, blame and deficiency that leave citizens feeling powerless, cynical and disengaged. It may well be Peter's best work, in that it provides not only an overview of the challenges to community, but also tells stories of many who are changing the world today, then offers concrete and practical ways to practice and engage the structure of belonging that he describes. No matter what your place or role in a neighborhood or organization, regardless of your vocation, education or political positions, this book will have value to you. Even if you've never thought about being active in your community, this book has value for you. In its practical presentation of the power of questions over answers and depth over speed, it offers a practice that can transform every conversation we choose to have, whether at work, at a town meeting or at home -- even in becoming more aware of the quiet conversations we have with ourselves. Recognizing the difference between a powerless conversation and a powerful one is alone worth the price of this book and the time invested in reading it. Learning how the spaces and context in which we gather and the importance of getting connected before expecting our agendas to produce anything is another worthwhile insight that can be gleaned from the book, regardless of occupation. One more thing among many I love about this book: It includes a section called BOOK AT A GLANCE, which provides a quick summary and reference guide for the entire message. The Book at a Glance starts with context and main ideas, then offers a summary of the kinds of questions that matter -- those that open the door to the future and are more powerful than answers in that they demand engagement. It ends with a quick look at designing the physical space for engagement. Since 2003 I've had the pleasure and privilege of participating in A Small Group, the community of practice that has grown in Cincinnati, Ohio, largely based on the ideas and methodology now collected in this book. COMMUNITY is an essential presentation of the wisdom and intentional approach to conversation and engagement that has become the hallmark of Peter's work. I highly recommend it.

Peter Block's new book Community really has a wealth of information about creating a healthyenvironment based on a structure that's not only innovative, but grounded in an easily adoptable format. This isn't just a consulting book, or "how to" book it has something that will appeal to anyone trying to create a sense of belonging. This book is a culmination of what Peter seems to have been building up to for years. If you're a fan of Peter's work then you probably already have this one, but if your new to Peter Block and his style this is actually a great place to start. Read Community and enjoy!

Peter newest book "Community" will become a classic on how to "Build Community". It has a conceptual model of community building for those who like or need a model. It has practical ideas and a "how to" section for those who just want to get started and improve their community. The book has a wonderful list of resources and practitioners who have done this sort of work for those who want or need that. Society has lost its community building skills and this book is a clear guide on how to retrieve those skills. I wish this book existed 6 years ago when I started a community building effort in Redwood City, Ca. This book is a precious gift to our often unrecognized and/or neglected personal need for community. If this book was read by most council members, mayors, city managers, county managers, county board of supervisors, non-profit executive directors, school superintendents and citizen leaders and if they implimented only some of the ideas in this book our society would be profoundly changed from the bottom up which is the only way society ever changes. Ed Everett (Retired City Manager/Consultant)

I believe this book is a must-read for those of us who work to transform community: It gives us a common language for talking about what makes community transformation different from human service/government planning and programs. It integrates many important strands of transformation thinking, making transformation feel more accessible. It helps us see what transformation looks like and connects that vision to concrete practice. Community: The Structure of Belonging is divided into two sections. The first is titled The Fabric of Community and is for me what makes this book so important. In this section Peter provides the "why" and the "what" of community transformation. (Those of us who normally skip straight to the "how" should read Peter's previous book, The Answer to How is Yes.) In this section, we learn to not continue repeating the program, system, service problem solving that keeps us from really restoring community. We learn what transformation is, what it means to be a citizen. If we really get the message of this section, we start to BE community transformer, not just DO community building. The second section is The Alchemy of Belonging. This is the tool kit for doing community transformation. Convening, invitation, small groups, forming the questions, holding the conversations of possibility, ownership, dissent commitment and gifts are covered here. This section expands the information that has been available on Peter's website that was developed and used in Cincinnati by A Small Group (as in Margaret Mead's axiom, "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. In fact it is the only thing that ever has.") In the back are two extra gifts: Book at a Glance, a 10-page sentence outline of the entire book, and Role Models and Resources, which expands the concept of an annotated bibliography and offers countless opportunities for further reading and learning. The gift of this book is a strong set of principles and usable instructions for restoring community. The challenge is to our willingness to stop what we are doing and learn what will lead us to the communities we desire.

Community: the Structure of Belonging is the most important book Peter Block has written and the most important book you are likely to read this year. The book is incredibly clear, profoundly important and perfectly timed. This book is Peter's masterwork and a culmination of the important thinking he has so carefully articulated in his other classics The Empowered Manager, Stewardship and The Flawless Consultant. While others bemoan the state of our communities, the decline of our cities and the failure of institutions Peter has been thinking about "restoration" and "reweaving" of the social fabric and has defined a clear process for creating a future that we would all like to be part of. This easy to read book has something for everyone. The theories and strategies underlying the thinking are compelling and comprehensive. The list of resources in the back of the book will lead you to people and organizations that are actively involved in building communities. The structure of the book provides easy access to the many layers of useful information including a full summary of the book added as an appendix. What is most powerful about this book though are the clearly defined questions which result in conversations that are capable of transforming the nature of human systems. These conversations change our thinking about how we relate to each other, how we understand the notion of belonging and how we encourage the bringing of our collective gifts into our communities. This book challenges us to become the citizens that we need to be to create the communities we want to live in. In this time in which we live it is hard for me to imagine something more important than that.