An interdisciplinary framework treating a community as a living biological entity with its own metabolism (resource flows), immune
system (defense against external threats), nervous
system (communication networks), and life cycle (formation, growth, senescence,
death). It uses biological models to diagnose community health, resilience, and pathologies (e.g., "social cancer" like runaway inequality, or "community infection" like a corrupting ideology).
Example: Analyzing a dying
rust-belt town through Community
Biology Theory: its metabolism (industry) has failed, leading to atrophy; its immune system (social services) is overwhelmed; its neural networks (
local newspapers, clubs) are decaying. The prescription isn't just economic, but holistic—treating the town as a sick organism needing metabolic, immune, and neural revival.