Commune (intentional community)
Encyclopedia
A commune is an intentional community
of people living together, sharing common interests, property
, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work
and income
. In addition to the communal economy
, consensus decision-making
, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become important core principles for many communes. Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times
wrote that, contrary to popular misconceptions, "most communes of the '90s are not free-love refuges for flower children, but well-ordered, financially solvent cooperatives where pragmatics, not psychedelic
s, rule the day." There are many contemporary intentional communities all over the world, a list of which can be found at the Fellowship for Intentional Community
.
categorized communities this way:
Of course, many communal ventures encompass more than one of these categorizations.
Some communes, such as the ashrams of the Vedanta Society
or the Theosophical commune Lomaland
, formed around spiritual leaders, while others formed around political ideologies. For others, the "glue" is simply the desire for a more shared, sociable lifestyle. Moreover, some people find it is more economical to live communally.
At the start of the 1970s "The New Communes" author Ron E. Roberts classified communes as a subclass of the larger category of Utopia
s. Three main characteristics were listed: first, egalitarianism
- communes specifically rejected hierarchy or graduations of social status as being necessary to social order. Second, human scale - members of communes saw the scale of society as it was then organised as being too large. Third, communes were consciously anti-bureaucratic.
Twenty five years later, Dr. Bill Metcalf, in his book "Shared Visions, Shared Lives" defined communes as having the following core principles: the importance of the group as opposed to the nuclear family unit, a "common purse", a collective household, group decision making in general and intimate affairs. Sharing everyday life and facilities, a commune is an idealised form of family, being a new sort of "primary group" (generally with fewer than 20 people). Commune members have emotional bonds to the whole group rather than to any sub-group, and the commune is experienced with emotions which go beyond just social collectivity.
s and monasteries, others are anthroposophic Camphill villages.
Many cultures naturally practice communal living, and wouldn't designate their way of life as a planned 'commune' per se, though their living situation may have many characteristics of a commune.
, a large number of the intentional communities define themselves as communes and there is a network of political communes called "Kommuja" with about 30 member groups (May 2009). Germany has a long tradition of intentional communities going back to the groups inspired by the principles of Lebensreform
in the 19th century. Later, about 100 intentional communities were started in the Weimar Republic
after World War I
, many with a communal economy. In the 1960s, there was a resurgence of communities calling themselves communes, starting with the Kommune 1
in Berlin, followed by Kommune 2 (also Berlin) and Kommune 3 in Wolfsburg.
In the German commune book, Das KommuneBuch, communes are defined by Elisabeth Voß as communities which:
im in Israel
is an example of officially organized communes. Today, there are tens of urban communes in Israel, called often urban kibbutz
im. The urban kibbutzim are smaller and more anarchist. Most of the urban communes in Israel emphasize social change, education, and local involvement in the cities where they live. Some of the urban communes are composed by graduates of zionist
-socialist
youth movements, like HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed
, Hamahanot Haolim and Hashomer Hatsair.
movement—the "back-to-the-land" ventures of the 1960s and 1970s—there is a long history of communes in America. Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times
wrote that "after decades of contraction, the American commune movement has been expanding since the mid-1990s, spurred by the growth of settlements that seek to marry the utopian-minded commune of the 1960s with the American predilection for privacy and capital appreciation."
. The communes also take decisions independently in regards to administration and the use of funding.
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
of people living together, sharing common interests, property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
and income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
. In addition to the communal economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
, consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that seeks the consent, not necessarily the agreement, of participants and the resolution of objections. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment. It has its...
, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become important core principles for many communes. Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that, contrary to popular misconceptions, "most communes of the '90s are not free-love refuges for flower children, but well-ordered, financially solvent cooperatives where pragmatics, not psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
s, rule the day." There are many contemporary intentional communities all over the world, a list of which can be found at the Fellowship for Intentional Community
Fellowship for Intentional Community
The Fellowship for Intentional Community nurtures connections and cooperation among communitarians and their friends. It provides publications, referrals, support services, and sharing opportunities for a wide range of intentional communities, cohousing groups, ecovillages, community networks,...
.
Categorization of communities
Benjamin ZablockiBenjamin Zablocki
Benjamin Zablocki is and American professor of sociology at Rutgers University where he teaches sociology of religion and social psychology. He has published widely on the subject of charismatic religious movements and cults....
categorized communities this way:
- Alternative-family communities
- CooperativeCooperativeA cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
communities - Countercultural communities
- Egalitarian communitiesEgalitarian communitiesEgalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with egalitarianism as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decision-making is done by consensus or another system in...
- Political communities
- Psychological communities (based on mystical or gestaltGestalt psychologyGestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
principles) - Rehabilitational communities (see SynanonSynanonThe Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
) - Religious communitiesMonasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
- SpiritualSpiritualitySpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
communities - Experimental communities
Of course, many communal ventures encompass more than one of these categorizations.
Some communes, such as the ashrams of the Vedanta Society
Vedanta Society
The Vedanta Society of Southern California, with its headquarters in Hollywood, was founded in 1930 by Swami Prabhavananda. The society is a branch of the Ramakrishna Order, and maintains subcenters in Pasadena, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Trabuco Canyon...
or the Theosophical commune Lomaland
Lomaland
Lomaland was a Theosophical commune located in Point Loma in San Diego), California from 1900 to 1942. Theosophical Society leader Katherine Tingley founded it in 1900 as a school, cultural center, and residential facility for her followers. The American headquarters of the Theosophical Society...
, formed around spiritual leaders, while others formed around political ideologies. For others, the "glue" is simply the desire for a more shared, sociable lifestyle. Moreover, some people find it is more economical to live communally.
Core principles of communes
The central characteristics of communes, and the definition of what a commune is, have changed over the years. Before 1840 such communities were known as "communist and socialist settlements"; by 1860 they were called "communitarian" and around 1920 the term "intentional community" was used.At the start of the 1970s "The New Communes" author Ron E. Roberts classified communes as a subclass of the larger category of Utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
s. Three main characteristics were listed: first, egalitarianism
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
- communes specifically rejected hierarchy or graduations of social status as being necessary to social order. Second, human scale - members of communes saw the scale of society as it was then organised as being too large. Third, communes were consciously anti-bureaucratic.
Twenty five years later, Dr. Bill Metcalf, in his book "Shared Visions, Shared Lives" defined communes as having the following core principles: the importance of the group as opposed to the nuclear family unit, a "common purse", a collective household, group decision making in general and intimate affairs. Sharing everyday life and facilities, a commune is an idealised form of family, being a new sort of "primary group" (generally with fewer than 20 people). Commune members have emotional bonds to the whole group rather than to any sub-group, and the commune is experienced with emotions which go beyond just social collectivity.
Communes around the world
With the simple definition of a commune as an intentional community with 100% income sharing, the online directory of the FIC lists 186 communes world wide (17 Aug 2011). Some of these are religious institutions such as abbeyAbbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
s and monasteries, others are anthroposophic Camphill villages.
Many cultures naturally practice communal living, and wouldn't designate their way of life as a planned 'commune' per se, though their living situation may have many characteristics of a commune.
Germany
In GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, a large number of the intentional communities define themselves as communes and there is a network of political communes called "Kommuja" with about 30 member groups (May 2009). Germany has a long tradition of intentional communities going back to the groups inspired by the principles of Lebensreform
Lebensreform
Lebensreform was a social movement in late 19th-century and early 20th-century Germany and Switzerland that propagated a back-to-nature lifestyle, emphasizing among others health food/raw food/organic food, nudism, sexual liberation, alternative medicine, and religious reform and at the same time...
in the 19th century. Later, about 100 intentional communities were started in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, many with a communal economy. In the 1960s, there was a resurgence of communities calling themselves communes, starting with the Kommune 1
Kommune 1
Kommune 1 or K1 was the first politically-motivated commune in Germany. It was created on January 12, 1967, in West Berlin and finally dissolved in November 1969....
in Berlin, followed by Kommune 2 (also Berlin) and Kommune 3 in Wolfsburg.
In the German commune book, Das KommuneBuch, communes are defined by Elisabeth Voß as communities which:
- Live and work together,
- Have a communal economy, i.e. common finances and common propertyCommunity propertyCommunity property is a marital property regime that originated in civil law jurisdictions and is now also found in some common law jurisdictions...
(land, buildings, means of production), - Have communal decision making - usually consensus decision making,
- Try to reduce hierarchy and hierarchical structures,
- Have communalisation of housework, childcare and other communal tasks,
- Have equality between women and men,
- Have low ecological footprintEcological footprintThe ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet's ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area necessary to...
s through sharing and saving resources.
Israel
KibbutzKibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
im in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is an example of officially organized communes. Today, there are tens of urban communes in Israel, called often urban kibbutz
Urban kibbutz
An urban kibbutz is a form of kibbutz which is located within an existing city. There are currently just over 100 in Israel, totalling around 2,000 members....
im. The urban kibbutzim are smaller and more anarchist. Most of the urban communes in Israel emphasize social change, education, and local involvement in the cities where they live. Some of the urban communes are composed by graduates of zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
-socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
youth movements, like HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed
Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed
Histadrut HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed , sometimes abbreiviated to No'al is an Israeli youth movement, a sister movement of Habonim Dror, the Labor Zionist movement....
, Hamahanot Haolim and Hashomer Hatsair.
Russia
In imperial Russia, the vast majority of Russian peasants held their land in communal ownership within a mir community, which acted as a village government and a cooperative. The very widespread and influential pre-Soviet Russian tradition of Monastic communities of both sexes could also be considered a form of communal living. After the end of Communism in Russia monastic communities have again become more common, populous and, to a lesser degree, more influential in Russian society.United States
Although communes are most frequently associated with the hippieHippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movement—the "back-to-the-land" ventures of the 1960s and 1970s—there is a long history of communes in America. Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that "after decades of contraction, the American commune movement has been expanding since the mid-1990s, spurred by the growth of settlements that seek to marry the utopian-minded commune of the 1960s with the American predilection for privacy and capital appreciation."
Venezuela
As of 2010, the Venezuelan state has intiated the construction of almost 200 "socialist communes" which are autonomous and independent from the government. The communes have their own "productive gardens” that grow their own vegetables as a method of self-supplyAutarky
Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...
. The communes also take decisions independently in regards to administration and the use of funding.
Notable examples of communes
- The Harmony SocietyHarmony SocietyThe Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States on October 7, 1803, initially purchasing of land in Butler...
started by Johann Georg RappGeorge RappJohann Georg Rapp was the founder of the religious sect called Harmonists, Harmonites, Rappites, or the Harmony Society....
in Harmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony, PennsylvaniaHarmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 937 at the 2000 census. It is located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...
, in 1804 and dissolving around 1905 in Ambridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge, PennsylvaniaAmbridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...
, was one of the longest-running financially successful communes in American history.
- Brook FarmBrook FarmBrook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education, was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s...
in Massachusetts existed from 1841 to 1847. Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, one of the commune's founders, fictionalized his experience in the novel The Blithedale RomanceThe Blithedale RomanceThe Blithedale Romance is Nathaniel Hawthorne's third major romance. In Hawthorne , Henry James called it "the lightest, the brightest, the liveliest" of Hawthorne's "unhumorous fictions."-Plot summary:...
(1852).
- FruitlandsFruitlands (transcendental center)Fruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
was a commune founded in 1843 by Amos Bronson AlcottAmos Bronson AlcottAmos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a...
in Harvard, Massachusetts. The tempo of life in this Transcendentalist community is recorded by Alcott's daughter, Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
, in her piece "Transcendental Wild Oats."
- The Oneida CommunityOneida CommunityThe Oneida Community was a religious commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 in Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had already returned in the year 70 AD, making it possible for them to bring about Jesus's millennial kingdom themselves, and be free of sin and perfect in this...
was a commune that lasted from 1848 to 1881 in Oneida, New York. Although this utopian experiment is better known today for its manufacture of Oneida silverware, it was one of the longest-running communes in American history.
- The commune Modern Times was formed in 1851 in Long Island.
- The Amana ColoniesAmana ColoniesThe Amana Colonies are a group of settlements of radical German Pietists in Iowa, USA, comprising seven villages. Calling themselves the Ebenezer Society or the Community of True Inspiration , they first settled in New York state near Buffalo in what is now the Town of West Seneca...
were communal settlements in IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
which lasted from 1855 to 1932.
- The anarchist Home Colony was formed in 1895 across the Puget Sound from Tacoma, Washington on Key Peninsula, and lasted until 1919.
- The Twin Oaks Community is a commune that was founded in 1967; it continues to thrive.
- GanasGanasGanas is an intentional community founded in 1979 in Tompkinsville, Staten Island.Ganas has non-egalitarian, tiered membership groups, and is thus a partial member at the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. The community uses a group problem-solving process called "Feedback Learning", which was...
is an on-going commune in the New Brighton neighborhood of Staten Island, New York.
- The Latin SettlementLatin SettlementLatin settlement is a term that refers to a handful of communities founded by German immigrants to the United States in the 1840s. Most of these were in Texas, but there were "Latin Settlements" in other states as well...
s by GermanGermansThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
freethinkers mostly in rural, south central Texas in the mid-19th century.
- The Cecilia Commuity in Brazil, an anarchist community founded by Italian immigrants around the turn of the century in the southern region of Brazil.
- The Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community, created by Michael Metelica in 1968 and lasting until 1988, was the largest commune in the northeast United States.
- Jesus People USA (JPUSA), started in 1972 and based in Chicago, Illiois' Uptown area, is perhaps the largest urban commune in the United States, and is still strongly flavored by its hippie / 60s roots.
See also
- Anarchist CataloniaAnarchist CataloniaAnarchist Catalonia was the part of Catalonia controlled by the anarchist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo during the Spanish Civil War.-Anarchists enter government:...
- Anarcho-communism
- Art CommuneArt CommuneAn art commune is a communal living situation or commune where collective art is produced as a function of the group's activities. Contemporary art communes such as Kunsthaus Tacheles and Flux Factory are scattered around the world, yet frequently aloof to widespread attention due to displeasure or...
- Co-operative living arrangementsCo-operative living arrangementsCo-operative living arrangements occur when three or more unrelated people chose to live together and share a common residential structure.Typically, in these co-ops, several people occupy a single dwelling unit, such as a large house, with each person having a private area, including a bedroom...
- Common landCommon landCommon land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
- Communal landCommunal landCommunal land is a territory in possession of a community, rather than an individual or company.-Zimbabwe:...
- Commune (documentary)Commune (documentary)Commune is a 2005 documentary film by Jonathan Berman. The film is about an intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California called Black Bear Ranch and features narration by Peter Coyote who himself once resided at Black Bear.-Reception:...
, a 2005 documentary about Black Bear Ranch, an intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California - Commune of Paris
- CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
- Diggers and DreamersDiggers and DreamersDiggers and Dreamers: The Guide to Communal Living is a primary resource for information, issues, and ideas about intentional communities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - from urban co-ops to cohousing groups to rural communes and low impact developments.-History:Since 1989...
- Drop CityDrop CityDrop City was an artists' community that formed in southern Colorado in 1965. Abandoned by the early 1970s, it became known as the first rural "hippie commune".-Establishment:...
- Egalitarian communitiesEgalitarian communitiesEgalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with egalitarianism as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decision-making is done by consensus or another system in...
- EjidoEjidoThe ejido system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community. This use of community land was a common practice during the time of Aztec rule in Mexico...
, a form of Mexican land distribution resembling a commune - Equality colonyEquality colonyThe Equality Colony was a US socialist colony founded in Skagit County, Washington, in the year 1897. It was meant to serve as a model which would convert the rest of Washington and later the entire United States to socialism....
- Fellowship for Intentional CommunityFellowship for Intentional CommunityThe Fellowship for Intentional Community nurtures connections and cooperation among communitarians and their friends. It provides publications, referrals, support services, and sharing opportunities for a wide range of intentional communities, cohousing groups, ecovillages, community networks,...
- Great Leap ForwardGreat Leap ForwardThe Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
, a time period in the 1950s and 1960s when the Chinese government created such communes - ObshchinaObshchinaObshchina or Mir ) or Selskoye obshestvo were peasant communities, as opposed to individual farmsteads, or khutors, in Imperial Russia. The term derives from the word о́бщий, obshchiy ....
, communes of the Russian Empire - Hippies
- HramadaHramadaHramada is a Belarusian word that means gathering of people, i.e., assembly. Historically a hramada was meant as a peasant commune, which gathered meetings for discussing and resolving current issues....
, a Belarussian commune assembly - HutteriteHutteriteHutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Since the death of their founder Jakob Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially living in a community of goods and absolute...
, a Christian sect that lives in communal "colonies" - Intentional communities
- KibbutzKibbutzA kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
, Israeli communes - List of intentional communities
- MarxismMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
- People's communePeople's communeThe people's commune was the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas of the People's Republic of China during the period of 1958 to 1982-85 until they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were divided in turn into production brigades and production teams...
, type of administrative level in China from 1958 - early 1980s - Renaissance CommunityRenaissance CommunityThe Brotherhood of the Spirit was one of the largest and most enduring communes in the northeast United States and as such was a distinct link between the commune phenomenon of the 1960s and the current New Age movement...
- UtopiaUtopiaUtopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
- Well-field systemWell-field systemThe well-field system was a Chinese land distribution method existing between the ninth century BCE to around the end of the Warring States Period...
, a Chinese land distribution system with common lands control by a village - World Brotherhood ColoniesWorld Brotherhood ColoniesWorld Brotherhood Colonies are an idea for cooperative spiritual living first promoted by Paramahansa Yogananda, the Indian yogi and author of Autobiography of a Yogi. Beginning in 1932 , and continuing to the end of his life in 1952, Yogananda urged young people to pool their resources, buy land,...
Sources
- Curl, John (2007). Memories of Drop City, The First Hippie Commune of the 1960s and the Summer of Love, a memoir. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-42343-4. Red-coral.net
- Curl, John (2009) For All The People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America, PM Press. ISBN 978-1-60486-072-6.
- Fitzgerald, George R. (1971). Communes Their Goals, Hopes, Problems. New York: Paulist Press.
- Horrox, James. (2009). A Living Revolution: Anarchism in the Kibbutz Movement. Oakland: AK Press.
- Margaret Hollenbach. (2004)Lost and Found: My Life in a Group Marriage Commune. University of New Mexico PressUniversity of New Mexico PressThe University of New Mexico Press, founded in 1929, is a university press that is part of the University of New Mexico. Its administrative offices are in the Office of Research , on the campus of UNM in Albuquerque....
, ISBN 0-8263-3463-6. - Rosabeth Moss KanterRosabeth Moss KanterRosabeth Moss Kanter is a tenured professor in business at Harvard Business School, where she holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship...
. (1972) Commitment and community: communes and utopias in sociological perspective. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
. ISBN 0-674-14575-5 - Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. (1973) Communes: creating and managing the collective life. New York, Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-043476-7
- Lattin, Don. (2003, March 2) Twilight of Hippiedom. The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 16, 2008
- Lauber, John. (1963, June). Hawthorne’s Shaker Tales [Electronic version]. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 18, 82-86.
- Meunier, Rachel. (1994, December 17). Communal Living in the Late 60s and Early 70s. Retrieved March 16, 2008, from thefarm.org
- Miller, Timothy. (1997) "Assault on Eden: A Memoir of Communal Life in the Early '70s", Utopian Studies, Vol. 8, 1997.
- Roberts, Ron E. (1971). The New Communes Coming Together in America. New Jersey: Prentice Hall inc.
- Veysey, Laurence R. (1978)The Communal Experience: Anarchist and Mystical Communities in Twentieth Century America
- Wild, Paul H. (1966 March). Teaching Utopia [Electronic version]. The English Journal, Vol. 55, No. 3, 335-337+339.
- Zablocki, Benjamin. (1980, 1971) The Joyful Community: An Account of the Bruderhof: A Communal Movement Now in Its Third Generation (University of Chicago Press, 1971, reissued 1980), ISBN 0-226-97749-8. (The 1980 edition of the Whole Earth CatalogWhole Earth CatalogThe Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998...
called this book "the best and most useful book on communes that's been written".) - Zablocki, Benjamin. (1980) Alienation and Charisma: A Study of Contemporary American Communes (The Free Press, 1980), ISBN 0-02-935780-2.
External links
- Communal Studies Bibliography
- Federation of Egalitarian Communities
- Intentional Communities Website
- List of Communes of France
- Intentional Communities Wiki
- kamparealis Online cooperative commune (Russian)
- List of Communes in the Communities Directory
- "Roots of Communal Revival" by Timothy Miller. A paper on communes in North America from World War I to the 1960s.
- Twin Oaks Communities Conference Conference focused on education about living in intentional communities.