Discovering Community in Urban Society: Autoethnography of a Journey

Extremely important, but often neglected, aspects of legitimacy are its performative attributes. This is especially true of urban political arenas in which the competition for recognition as a legitimate community representative takes place before sceptical audiences which include both government agencies as well as local residents. In regard to this problem, one must ask what the reason for this scepticism is. One must also ask what are the rewards for recognition and what are the penalties for not attaining it? It is important to note that the theoretical problems of community in urban society parallel the practical problems of doing community in urban society. In this analytic autoethnographic chapter, I hope to describe, discuss, and give examples of how these theoretical issues, which emerged during my dissertation research, impacted my own community action research in New York City in the turbulent 1960s as I sought to help local gain legitimacy in the eyes of municipal authorities.