Book excerpt: Community Matters is unique in its use of a contextualized, interactionist approach to analyze the nature and extent of community. Its theoretical discussion of community as process is expanded through the inclusion of arguments raised in political science and philosophy, and is balanced by descriptive analyses of a diverse selection of communities. This book helps bridge the divide between works of academic argument concerning civil society and community life and books explicitly focused on presenting practical information on what is and is not effective in community work. Community Matters shifts attention away from a conceptualization of community as a fixed evolutionary stage identified with specific types of settings, and instead provides numerous illustrations of the dynamic quality of social ties and community life. This book convinces readers that they can and should study community and community matters. A Burnham Publishers book