| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology |
| Editors | George Ritzer |
| Publisher | John Wiley and Sons |
| Pages | 1-3 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781405165518 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781405124331 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2016 |
Abstract
Although class cleavage and power struggles divide societies into opposing interests, a society of any longevity also possesses a common stock of cultural resources – language, traditions, and collective memories of belonging and past suffering – that enable it to cohere as a distinctive collective entity. Community of fate draws on this fact to depict the bases of enduring social recognition, the ability of states to coerce citizens to fight and face the prospect of death for their political community, and the success or failure of mass emergency response. This entry traces the history of the community of fate in sociological thinking, and identifies its modern scientific and propagandist applications.