I thought it would be interesting to revisit the concept of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft as espoused by Ferdinand Toënnies through an examination of my home town Trail, BC. My home town provides such an interesting case study as it is distinctly rural due to its population size (7,320 as of the last census) and its distance from any large urban centre (the nearest city over 100,000 people in population is Spokane, WA); however, Trail maintains an urban look and feel due to its many distinct dense neighborhoods and the looming smoke stacks of a large industrial complex (Teck lead-zinc smelter). Due to these apparent contradictions Trail provides an interesting lens through which to view the interplay of the concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.
Trail exhibits elements of Gemeinschaft through the manner in which the majority of its residents subscribe to common mores. Many residents are of Italian descent and base their social relations around the structure of the extend family, friends, and neighborhood acquaintances. Most residents exemplify this focus on the family through the ownership and upkeep of the family home: most homes are kept tidily despite age and often feature grape arbors and brick barbeques around which families will congregate during the summer months. It is very common for families to live in the same home for two or more generations. Gemeinschaft is often exhibited through the high church attendance (especially Roman Catholic) which is a manifestation of the common focus on family life.
Gesellschaft is also readily apparent in an examination of Trail due to the heavy industrial focus of the city’s economy. The long history of the city’s smelter and its attendant labour history exhibit aspects of Gesellschaft. Through workers’ participation in union efforts they gained class consciousness and have tried to reform the conditions of their workplace and have often violently struggled to achieve their stated goals. This class struggle was once manifested in space as members of the smelter’s management lived in comfortable homes in the exclusive Garden suburb of Tadanac while regular workers were left to procure their own housing wherever the difficult topography would allow (leaving a legacy of intimate narrow one-way streets carved with rock walls across the hill sides).
Overall, the quirky make-up of Trail could never be typified as Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft but a tension between the two can be observed. Its many Italian residents immigrated to the city and promptly reconstructed their ethnic identity through the preservation such traditional activities as la passeggiata (a sunset evening stroll of neighbors) and elements of folk religion; yet these same immigrant eagerly embraced the tenets of modern unionism and political activism revealing a unique urban structure that is quite atypical.
This is an extremely interesting analysis of a region i find particularly attractive, both in terms of its natural topography and community feeling. Having visited the Kootenay’s multiple times, something that has almost always occurred to me is the sense of community that has been fostered there. Whether in Rossland, Nelson, Or Trail, it has always been an area where even as a foreigner i have felt welcome, and could tangibly sense the communities that resided there. I do though find your analysis of trail particularly interesting concerning the ethnic origin of many of its inhabitants. I actually had no idea that Italian immigrants had populated this area. It certainly provides an interesting element to contrast with Toennie’s ideology, as reffering to both his Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft, Its extremely interesting that this ethnic community could be representative of both, in its fostering of community, and in its industrial employment. I Also find it particularly interesting, and have always wondered why it Trail has been so affected by industry in ways other communities in the kootenay’s have certainly not. As You put it, These “looming smoke stacks” really do come to define Trail’s reputation, and i find it particularly interesting getting this background information to give me a better representation of what Trail, is, and what it stands for. All i really had previously known about trail, was that its industry polluted the pristine Kootenay lake and that J.P Auclair filmed an epic urban ski shoot there for “All I Can”. so Thanks for the information, and for giving me a better idea of where the people of Trail come from, and what they stand for.
I find this topic quite interesting as well, especially in terms of how you’ve related it to a personal level of experience. I really did not believe that a Gemeinschaft could truly still exist in the industrialized Western world, especially due to the pervasive influence of the media and cultural transmission that is so readily exchanged. However in reading your posting about Trail, I can also relate it to my own personal experience of growing up in Osoyoos. It too is a very small community and due to its agricultural nature has attracted many immigrants from India, from where my experience stems. Here also there is a sense of community who stick to their traditional mores and religion, within a larger community. It will be quite interesting to see how the traditional mores of both these communities are passed on to future generations and if residents will continue to subscribe to traditional values.