Villaging is not a new idea — it is a framework that names and organizes what communities have always known. Explore the scholarship and perspectives that inform each pillar of the Villaging framework.
The need to belong is not a preference — it is a biological and psychological imperative. Research consistently links a sense of belonging to improved mental health, academic achievement, and longevity.
Baumeister & Leary (1995) · Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness (2017) · U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Loneliness (2023)
Reciprocal exchange — giving and receiving outside of transactional logic — is the foundation of social trust. Anthropological and sociological research consistently shows that reciprocity is what transforms a group of people into a community.
Marcel Mauss, The Gift (1925) · Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone (2000) · adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy (2017)
Care has historically been treated as a private, individual responsibility — but research in public health and community organizing demonstrates that collective care structures produce better outcomes for individuals and communities alike.
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (1990) · Dean Spade, Mutual Aid (2020) · bell hooks, All About Love (2000)
Communities that pool and share resources — time, skills, knowledge, and material goods — demonstrate greater resilience and reduced individual burden, drawing on both economic research and indigenous knowledge systems.
Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons (1990) · Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
The difference between community that happens to you and community you build on purpose. Research on intentional community design demonstrates that deliberate, values-aligned structures produce more durable and equitable connection.
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968) · bell hooks, Belonging (2009) · adrienne maree brown, We Will Not Cancel Us (2020)
Black Feminist Epistemology
Patricia Hill Collins
Centers lived experience and community knowledge as valid ways of knowing — foundational to how the Villaging framework was built.
Participatory Action Research
Paulo Freire / Community tradition
Research methodology that positions community members as co-investigators — the approach behind the ongoing Villaging research design.
Emergent Strategy
adrienne maree brown
A framework for change rooted in relationships and interdependence — deeply aligned with the practice of villaging.
Intersectionality
Kimberlé Crenshaw
Understanding how overlapping identities shape individual experiences of community, belonging, and exclusion.
Relational-Cultural Theory
Jean Baker Miller, J. V. Jordan
Proposes that human growth and wellbeing occur through connection, not separation — mutual, growth-fostering relationships are central to psychological health.
Community Cultural Wealth
Tara Yosso
Challenges deficit-based narratives by naming the rich forms of capital communities carry — aspirational, familial, social, navigational, and resistant.
The following open-access articles and reports support the research foundations of the Villaging framework. This list will grow as the Village Noire research program develops.
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation
Social Connection Linked to Improved Health and Reduced Risk of Early Death
Social Connection — Research & Articles
Values and Beliefs Underlying Mutual Aid: An Exploration of Collective Care During COVID-19
Mutual Aid Organisations and Their Role in Reducing Food Insecurity During COVID-19
Centering Equity in the Development of a Community Resilience Planning Resource