Two Hundred Years of American CommunesTransaction Publishers, 1987 M01 1 - 516 pages The United States is the only modern nation in which communes have continuously existed for the past two hundred years. This definitive history of communes in America examines the major factors that have supported the existence and growth of communes throughout American history. The most impressive survey of the communal experience since the works of Noyes and Nordhoff, it is informed by a deep respect for the human subjects and organizational forms of American communes. The findings in the analytical chapters are of considerably theoretical import beyond the historical narrative. Oved details the founding, growth, development, and sometimes failure of alternative societies from 1735 to 1939: Icaria, Ephrata, Oneida, Shaker, religious, secular, and socialist communes. Extensive reference material cited will assure this work a special place in the archives of the literature on communes. |
From inside the book
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... took me straight to the dining hall , where I met all the members of the commune who had been ex- pecting me . After I had taken a seat I was greeted with an Israeli song , which was a surprising and touching gesture , and a suitable ...
... took root . The following is an attempt to throw light on the phenomenon by means of two sets of causes : ( 1 ) background factors of a lasting effect which , during the formative years of the communes and of the American society as a ...
... took root in other parts of the country and under different circumstances — in the settlements of independent religious groups in Pennsylvania , Maryland , Delaware , and Rhode Island in the East . It was also rooted in the western ...
... took root among them . Not all kinds of colonization were suited to communitarian settlement . The imperialistic colonization enterprises that were influenced by mercantilistic theories were diametrically opposed to such a trend ...
... took many forms , and each new wave had different characteristics . Usually , mass immigration was caused by economic pressures in the native country . The immigrants were attracted by the supposedly unlimited material opportunities ...
Contents
3 | |
19 | |
The Shakers American Religious Communes | 39 |
Religious Immigrant Communes | 69 |
Robert Owen and the First Socialist Communes | 109 |
Fourierist Communitarian Settlements | 129 |
Oneida Commune with Complex Marriage | 167 |
Icaria The Socialist Immigrant Communes | 193 |
Sunrise and Anarchist Communities | 311 |
The Hutterites A Bridge between Past and Present | 333 |
A COLLECTIVE PROFILE IN A COMPARATIVE APPROACH | 367 |
Ideological Principles | 369 |
Social Activity and Management | 379 |
Education Culture and Rituals | 393 |
The Family and Womens Status in the Communes | 411 |
Economic Assets and Liabilities | 427 |
Victor Considerant and the Fourierists at La Reunion | 215 |
New Odessa A Jewish Commune of the Am Olam Group | 223 |
The Kaweah Cooperative Colony in California | 233 |
Ruskin The Communitarian Settlement in Tennessee | 247 |
Communitarian Settlements and Socialist Parties in Washington State | 257 |
The Christian Commonwealth in Georgia | 275 |
Llano de Rio A Socialist Commune in California and Louisiana | 285 |
Dualistic Relationships with the Outside World | 447 |
Dissolution of the Communes Options or Inevitability? | 467 |
Epilogue | 481 |
Appendix | 485 |
Index of Names | 495 |
Index of Communes | 499 |