Living in Utopia by Lucy Sargisson Lyman Tower Sargent

Author:Lucy Sargisson, Lyman Tower Sargent [Lucy Sargisson, Lyman Tower Sargent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, Rural
ISBN: 9780754642244
Google: Rxr9wAEACAAJ
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Company
Published: 2004-01-15T04:07:23+00:00

Conclusion: Cooperative Lifestyles

Intentional communities often have a serious aim to which all members are committed. This might be saving the environment, achieving a religious utopia, or promoting world peace. However, this does not mean that all members spend every day in the community earnestly pursuing the group’s mission. They have other needs to meet: relationships to establish and maintain and personal goals to meet. Sometimes living in community aids this and sometimes it makes these things more difficult to manage.

It is particularly important in this group of communities that these personal needs are met. This is because these communities are often loosely bound. They are more than just groups of friends who share a house, but they often lack the glue that binds many of the other kinds of communities discussed in this book. They defy the conventional wisdom that for a community to ‘succeed’ (that is, to achieve historical longevity), its members must share a commitment to a higher cause, the most binding of these being a religious commitment (Kanter 1973).

Members of this group of communities often just want to live cooperatively. For some, this is part of a wider or deeper ideological commitment, but for many it is an end in itself. Because these communities often have no wider religious or ideological bond, the communities themselves are the glue that binds their members. They must, therefore, meet the needs of their members.

The community with one of the loosest ideological bonds is Chippenham, and here this can be clearly observed. Members gave a variety of reasons for being a part of this group. Some joined because they felt lonely and wanted a sense of belonging, some sought an alternative environment in which to bring up their children. Others liked the structures, which are efficient. Some joined for political reasons. All valued the social environment.

LS: I’d like you to begin by describing Chippenham Community for me.

Fiona: Well, I’d say Chippenham is a fairly vibrant community at the moment. I think of it as a microcosm of society as a whole … we’ve got such a diverse group of people, diverse ages, and it brings in all the social interactions you have in a wider society, so I think it is wonderful. It’s really good. It’s a high-energy place. I’m sure you’ve picked up on that.

LS: Yes.

Fiona: We’ve got a good group, which makes a difference. I actually think the community functions well if you take into account all the aspects of human nature and throw this many people together, living in one house; I think we function pretty well as a group, we’ve got a pretty good group of people. I think it is working for us now.

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