This book provides an in-depth history of three US-based communal societies that operated in the late 1960s and 1970s―Soul City, Stelle and Twin Oaks―with an emphasis on their financing, marketing, and entrepreneurship processes. These communities reflect the diversity of people who were dissatisfied with the direction in which American society was heading―often underpinned by concerns over racism, sexism, the environment, and capitalism―and decided to take the radical step of joining a communal society. A moral economy approach offers a lens on how these communities were prevented from fully realizing their visions due to the confines of capitalism, as embedded in banking practices, zoning laws, and systemic racism.
Author(s): Rahima Schwenkbeck
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 348
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction
A Brief History of Communal Societies in the United States
Case Studies
A Note on Terminology
A Note on Sources
Chapter 2: The Founding Ideologies of Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks
Stelle: A Doomsday Community
Twin Oaks: A Utopian Experiment in Behaviorism
Soul City: A Black Capitalist Utopia
Chapter 3: Pioneers in the Middle of Nowhere: Land and Space
Stelle: “the stereotypical American small town—except for the countdown toward doomsday”
Twin Oaks: Low Cost, Fast, yet Haphazard Growth
Soul City: A Black Utopia in the Clutches of Bureaucracy
Summary: The Ideal of the Garden City
Chapter 4: No Hippies, Please: Members and Membership Policies
Stelle: A Study in Opaque Leadership and Membership Policies
Member Profiles: Who Joined Stelle?
Stelle: A Summary Profile
Twin Oaks and the Perils of a Self-Selecting Membership
Twin Oaks Membership Profiles
Soul City: The Place to Go for Peace, Quiet and Black Advancement
Soul City Resident Profiles
Summarizing Membership: “It’s kind of like the finer and finer layers of mesh sifting out all the odd lumps”
Chapter 5: Commune, Inc.: The Perils and Benefits of Entrepreneurship
Stelle: A Diversified Business Base in a Dying Market
Twin Oaks: Initial Business Plans Were Loosely Defined, but Offered a Chance to Experiment
Twin Oaks Hammocks: Inertia in the Face of Success
Difficulties with Hammock Industry
Summary of Twin Oaks’ Various Business Ventures
Soul City: The Black Capitalism Base that Wasn’t
Summary: Communes and Communal Ventures Face Incredible Adversity
Chapter 6: Some Hands on Deck: Labor Politics and Practices
Stelle: The Power of Community Labor and the Perils of an Oedipus Complex
Twin Oaks’ Labor Credits
Outside Work
Hammock Industry
Summary of Twin Oaks’ Labor Profile
Soul City: A Conventionally Run Community, Including Gender Discrimination
Clocking Out: Summarizing Labor in Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks
Chapter 7: Selling the Dream: Advertising Community and Business
Stelle: The World Is Ending, but We’re Doing Fine Here
Twin Oaks: Doubling Down on Egalitarianism
Twin Oaks Hammocks: Selling When Your Heart Isn’t in It, but Your Need to Live Is
Soul City: The Trouble with Trying to Please Everyone
Summary: Print Papered the Way for Communities
Chapter 8: Everything Has Its Price: Financing a Community
Stelle: It Takes a Village to Grow, but a Single Thief to Thwart Progress
Twin Oaks: With $30,000 and a Dream
Not Quite Outside of the State: Filing Status
Soul City: Another Tale of Misplaced Faith and Funds
Conclusion: Internal Control Over Funding Helps, but Everything Is Connected
Chapter 9: The Invisible Hand, or Crushing Fist, of the State
Being Recognized by the State
Impact of State Laws and Actions on Communal Development
The Invisible or Unacknowledged Benefit of Tax Breaks, Informational Literature, and Funding
Small- and Large-Scale Government Financing, Coupled with Small- and Large-Scale Complications
Audits: A Long, Strange Trip Through Expensive Legal Channels
Conclusion: The State Casts a Powerful Net of Hard and Soft Power
Chapter 10: Conclusion: Meandering Toward Utopia
Index
