Monday

Intentional Communities: Bringing Community Back Into Living


It's fairly common at this point in time for the modern American to mourn the loss (or, at least, disintegration) of community. Individualism naturally found it's home in American values, and symbols of individual progress like isolated single-family homes, automobiles and even iPods now pervade our cultural landscape. However, certain groups of people feel there is an imbalance between individualistic and cooperative efforts, and are subsequently taking matters into their own hands. These groups are known as "Intentional Communities," and the one thing they all have in common is that they are attempting to reestablish community-based ideals into the way we live.


Historically, Intentional Communities have more or less been places where idealists have come together to create a better world. According to the essay "Intentional Communities: Lifestyles Based on Ideals" by Geoph Kozeny:


An "intentional community" is a group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose, working cooperatively to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared core values. The people may live together on a piece of rural land, in a suburban home, or in an urban neighborhood, and they may share a single residence or live in a cluster of dwellings.


This definition spans a wide variety of groups, including (but not limited to) communes, student cooperatives, land co-ops, cohousing groups, monasteries and ashrams, and farming collectives. Although quite diverse in philosophy and lifestyle, each of these groups places a high priority on fostering a sense of community--a feeling of belonging and mutual support that is increasingly hard to find in mainstream Western society.


Intentional Communities, argues Kozeny, bust the myth that co-housing communities began and died with the hippies in the '60's. In truth, communal living arrangements have been in place since long before the free-lovin' era -- for thousands of years, in fact. What's more, intentional communities continue to exist around the world, and, by the looks of it, they're making a comeback.


Though we haven't quite actively adopted the label, in many ways The Sheldon Cooperative fits the intentional community profile: We have a common vision that involves strong community, sustainability, and the desire to create a better alternative to traditional senior housing models.


There's no doubt about it, "intentional community" is one buzz word we're sure to hear more of in the future.


Want to know more? Further Reading:


Culture Clash: Cultural Diversity in Intentional Communities


What's True About Intentional Communities: Dispelling the Myths


1 Comments:

At August 22, 2010 at 3:44 AM , Blogger Alchemist George said...

America has a rich heritage of intentional communities of which the hippie communes were only one of the more recent waves. While most of the 60s communes didn't survive, some did.

Given the high percentage of short lived intentional communities, it may be of value to study what it was about them that allowed them to survive. What I've seen living in our 42 year old intentional community is that many groups do quite well with physical, economic or ideological aspects, but don't do the necessary things for the groups to thrive on a human level. Human relationships seem most likely endure to the extent that people involved find them to be gratifying, the trick is how to use this obvious truth in a group situation.

 

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