Camphill and the Future: Spirituality and Disability in an Evolving Communal Movement

by Dan McKanan

Overview

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The Camphill movement, one of the world’s largest and most enduring networks of intentional communities, deserves both recognition and study. Founded in Scotland at the beginning of the Second World War, Camphill communities still thrive today, encompassing thousands of people living in more than one hundred twenty schools, villages, and urban neighborhoods on four continents. Camphillers of all abilities share daily work, family life, and festive celebrations with one another and their neighbors. Unlike movements that reject mainstream society, Camphill expressly seeks to be “a seed of social renewal” by evolving along with society to promote the full inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, who comprise nearly half of their residents. In this multifaceted exploration of Camphill, Dan McKanan traces the complexities of the movement’s history, envisions its possible future, and invites ongoing dialogue between the fields of disability studies and communal studies.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520344082
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	250
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Dan McKanan is the Emerson Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School. His research focuses on religion and social transformation, with special emphasis on intentional communities, sustainable agriculture, and leftist activism. His most recent book is Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

A Visit to Camphill 1

Camphill Worldwide 3

Camphill Past and Future 8

Camphill and the Scholars 14

Many Paths to the Future 18

1 Camphill Generations 25

The Founders 26

Those Who Came 35

The Boomers 41

A Missing Generation 58

The Fourth Generation 65

2 Camphill Constituencies 81

Students and Villagers 83

Lifesharing Coworkers 97

Young Coworkers 102

Employees 112

Parents 130

Board Members 133

3 Camphill Contexts 140

The Anthroposophical Movement 140

Other Communal Movements 161

Environmentalism 170

Social Care in an Age of Austerity 175

Disability Rights 187

Camphill Crises and Renewal 195

Conclusion 205

Notes 209

Index 231

Editorial Reviews

"Diligent scholarship grounded in solid theoretical moorings and punctuated with perceptive personal interviews will make Camphill and the Future the definitive work on the first eighty years of this laudable humanitarian communal movement. It may well help shape that future."

Nova Religio

"McKanan’s Camphill and the Future is an important contribution to the fields of both disability studies and the study of anthroposophy, communal movements, and Western esotericism."

Reading Religion

"Camphill and the Future…is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read. . . . McKanan not only challenges communal studies to seriously consider disability, but also makes a genuine appeal to students and scholars in disability studies to join the conversation."

Disability Studies Quarterly blog