American Community: Radical Experiments in Intentional Living

by Mark S. Ferrara

Overview

Mainstream notions of the “American Dream” usually revolve around the ownership of private property, a house of one’s own. Yet for the past 400 years, a large number of Americans have dared to dream bigger and bolder, choosing to live in intentional communities that pooled resources, and they worked to ensure the well-being of all their members. 
 
American Community takes us inside forty of the most interesting intentional communities in the nation’s history, from the colonial era to the present day. You will learn about such little-known experiments in cooperative living as the Icarian communities, which took the utopian ideas expounded in a 1840 French novel and put them into practice, ultimately spreading to five states over fifty years. Plus, it covers more recent communities such as Arizona’s Arcosanti, designed by architect Paolo Soleri as a model for ecologically sustainable living.
 
In this provocative and engaging book, Mark Ferrara guides readers through an array of intentional communities that boldly challenged capitalist economic arrangements in order to attain ideals of harmony, equality, and social justice. By shining a light on these forgotten histories, it shows that far from being foreign concepts, communitarianism and socialism have always been vital parts of the American experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781978808232
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	10/18/2019
Edition description:	None
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

MARK S. FERRARA is associate professor of English at the State University of New York and author of several books, including Palace of Ashes (2015), Sacred Bliss (2016), and New Seeds of Profit (2019). He lives with his wife in an intentional community dedicated to sustainable living and experiential learning in upstate New York.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction: Community of Goods in the Colonies 1

Ephrata

Zwaanendael

New Bohemia

1 Revolution and Social Reformation 25

Zoar

Modern Times

New Harmony

Hopedale

Skaneateles

Bishop Hill

Icarian Communities

2 Sleeping Cars, Spiritualism, and Cooperatives 67

Pullman

Brotherhood of the New Life

Rugby Colony

Belton Woman's Commonwealth

Mound Bayou

Kaweah Cooperative Commonwealth

Ruskin Commonwealth

3 Theosophy, Depression, and the New Deal 101

Lomaland

Llano del Rio

Arthurdale

Phoenix Homesteads

Aberdeen Gardens

Greendale

Greenhills

Greenbelt

Celo Community

Houses of Hospitality

Sunrise Cooperative Farm

4 Hippies, Arcology, and Ecovillages 135

Endicott-Johnson

La Honda

Drop City

Libre

Morning Star Ranch

Wheeler's Ranch

Rancho Olompali

The Farm

Womanshare Collective

Mulberry Family

Arcosanti

EcoVillage Ithaca

Afterword: The Next Wave 176

Acknowledgments 185

Notes 187

Bibliography 209

Index 217

Editorial Reviews

"Highly recommended."

Choice

"Amid the isolation of new motherhood, I found solace in the communes of TikTok," vy Linnie Greene

Fast Company

"Mark Ferrara brings history alive with vivid descriptions of unique intentional communities, and their idealistic, and often quirky founders. He makes a compelling case that this particularly American impulse to build communities, in order to promote the values of equality, cooperation, and care for the earth, is both in response to the historical moment and also has helped to shape American society through bold innovation. A fascinating read!"
 

author of EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture - Liz Walker

"Mark Ferrara’s tour of America’s intentional communities is an engrossing journey into the best of American idealism. Ferrara has focused on communities not widely known and enriches our knowledge of these experimental utopias."

author of The Encyclopedic Guide to American Intentional Communities - Timothy Miller