Communities magazine – Life in Cooperative Culture

The study of intentional communities, both past and present, is a rich and rewarding enterprise for the student of political theory. The members of intentional communities, whether historic or contemporary, religious or secular, short-lived or enduring, must grapple with fundamental questions about human nature and human organization. In doing so, they illuminate in microcosm the… Read More

Through her experience temporarily “unplugging” to join a community emphasizing genuine connection and values-based living, an international law student gains lifelong lessons.

Forty-five years of researching, writing and teaching about, and living within intentional communities yield personal lessons with global implications.

Short-term experiences of intentional community, and short-lived communities, can still have powerful, life-changing, and society-changing effects.

Our Fall issue, sponsored in part by the Communal Studies Association, focuses on Learning from the Past. Current communitarians reflect on lessons from their own and their communities’ histories, and on inspiration from historical communities that inform their own efforts. Students of communalism share the outcomes of their research, including recipes for success and failure and other insights from past and present communities. Community seekers and founders describe what they’ve learned so far. Throughout, we explore how learning from the past can help us navigate the present and move toward a more vibrant, functional, cooperative future.