Building a public square: an analysis of community narratives

Timothy Steffensmeier

Community Development, 2010, vol. 41, issue 2, 255-268

Abstract: This paper explores how community narratives function as significant symbolic resources for community visioning. A rhetorical method of invention, focused on indentifying key topics, imitation, and persuasive appeals, was used to analyze the visioning efforts of 11 communities working with Public Square Communities, LLC. The evaluation of community narratives revealed that community visions responded to urgent circumstances of loss, lack, and division. Furthermore, community visions were created by imitating the language and processes of government and human services (two sectors of the public square). The public square process is changing the language and manner in which people conduct the work of building community.

Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:comdev:v:41:y:2010:i:2:p:255-268

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DOI: 10.1080/15575330903477317

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