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Closed community

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A closed community intentionally limits links with outsiders and outside communities. Closed communities may be of a religious, ethnic, or political nature. Governance of closed societies varies. Typically, members of closed communities are either born into the community or are accepted into it. The opposite of a closed community is an open community, which maintains social relations with external communities.[1][2]

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Development

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Perspective
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A 1590 drawing of a fortified Native village the manner of construction of the buildings and the enclosing stockade

Frederic Clements was an American ecologist and pioneer who studied vegetation formation and development, he created the idea that plants are supposed to birth, grow/mature, and decay. Their life cycle is similar to that of a human being. Clements also tested a theory known as "climax community"; he used areas of vegetation in comparison to actual communities. The community (fauna or human) is always constant and thriving, even if there were to be a catastrophic event, an individual or small group can manage to survive and regrow or rebuild in the same area they originated or relocate elsewhere and succeed. The concept of many plants and animals coexisting together, having an ecosystem and building upwards was the theory he aimed for (example: rain forest). The general theory later failed due to the fact that there was little or extremely basic comparable information about the logic of a being, the concept worked more in favor towards smaller organisms. Also, the theory became outdated and later on replaced with new sociological facts or science theories.[3][4]

Pros

  • Security of residing in a controlled/supervised area
  • Easier to find common interest, idea development with someone in your community
  • Being able to finish work more efficiently, naturally, and more originally due to having no interference with exterior[5]

Cons

  • Limitation and "cut-off" of diversity which leads to more difficulty accepting or incorporating outside concepts
  • Constantly having the same people in a closed area within a large communities of 50 or more can cause a resident to feel overwhelmed with an urge to escape
  • The fear of being overpowered or intimidation/competition
  • Can close themselves so off from advancements that have a hard time reintegrating into society[6]

In a 1957 article published in the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, archaeologist Eric R. Wolf argued that the organization of subsistence farmers into "closed, corporate communities" is a recurrent feature "in two world areas, widely separated by past history and geographical space: Mesoamerica and Central Java."[7]

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Medicine in closed communities

Infectious disease presents particular challenges to closed communities; external action (from the government or outside medical personnel) may assist in stopping the spread of the disease.[8][9][10][11]

Religious and cultural communities

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16th-century nuns

Some religious or ethnoreligious communities are considered closed. For example:

Closed countries

Examples of closed countries

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Further reading

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See also

References

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