ABSTRACT

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.

part 1|365 pages

The Historical Sequence

chapter 3|30 pages

The Shakers: American Religious Communes

chapter 4|39 pages

Religious Immigrant Communes

chapter 6|37 pages

Fourierist Communitarian Settlements

chapter 7|26 pages

Oneida: Commune with Complex Marriage

chapter 8|22 pages

Icaria: The Socialist Immigrant Communes

chapter 11|14 pages

The Kaweah Cooperative Colony in California

chapter 14|9 pages

The Christian Commonwealth in Georgia

chapter 16|21 pages

Sunrise and Anarchist Communities

part 2|117 pages

A Collective Profile in a Comparative Approach

chapter 18|9 pages

Ideological Principles

chapter 19|13 pages

Social Activity and Management

chapter 20|18 pages

Education, Culture, and Rituals

chapter 22|20 pages

Economic Assets and Liabilities

chapter 25|3 pages

Epilogue