Communitarian Movement

A social and political movement of academics founded by Amitai Etzioni in the early 1990s to influence US national social policy. Communitarians blame materialism and individualism for the disintegration of civil life, and believe that communities cannot survive unless people sacrifice some of their self-interest and dedicate more of their resources to community service.

Communitarians support the traditional family, moral instruction in schools, public service for high-school graduates and peer pressure, public humiliation, and the reduction of some civil rights to control crime. The movement publishes The Responsive Community, and their ideas have influenced Bill Clinton and other White House advisors. Many civil libertarian groups are opposed to the communitarian movement.