Issue 173


Nine Traditions that Draw Us Together: How a Small Town Nurtures Community

Posted on February 1, 2017 by

The art of creating community spirit within mainstream towns and neighborhoods has much potential to change the world for the better.


Finding Balance of Public and Private in Community

Posted on January 21, 2017 by

The erosion of the commons by private interests is a disaster for modern human settlements; a community without shared spaces is barely a community at all.


Public vs. Private: Group Dilemma Laid Bare!

Posted on January 11, 2017 by
1 Comment

For some neighbors, the logical leap from “glimpse of skin” to “nudist colony” is a surprisingly short one to make.


Ecosexuality: Embracing a Force of Nature

Posted on January 1, 2017 by
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Only when we create a container that is loving enough and strong enough to embrace the erotic, do we create a container that is loving enough and strong enough to embrace all of Life itself.


Five Tools to Help Groups Thrive

Posted on December 21, 2016 by

A clearly articulated evolutionary purpose, a welcoming of the whole self, and governance through self-management are keys to collective success.


Social Permaculture: Applying the Principles

Posted on December 11, 2016 by

Permaculture’s 12 principles apply to human groups just as much as to any other ecological system.


Social Permaculture—What Is It?

Posted on December 1, 2016 by

Ecological relationships are relatively easy to deal with. Human relationships are often much more difficult, but we can design social structures that favor beneficial patterns of behavior.


Not Rocket Science, but Just as Important

Posted on November 25, 2016 by

The arts of cooperative living—supported tirelessly by the cash-strapped FIC, and worthy now more than ever of financial support—will be as essential as technical skills if our species is to survive on this planet or any other.


Social Permaculture, and Public vs. Private, #173 Contents

Posted on November 21, 2016 by

Our Winter issue explores both Social Permaculture and the interface of Public and Private in intentional community. Starhawk and her colleagues share wisdom from the cutting edge of social permaculture practice, while diverse communitarians discuss how they find balance between the collective and the individual, openness and self-protection, outer-world activism and internal focus. We also learn about Sociocracy missteps, legal structures that help groups put their best feet forward (or not), and more.