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What is an intentional community?
What is an intentional community? For many people, the idea of
an intentional community doesn't ring a bell even though it has been in
practice for thousands of years. In essence, an intentional community
is a group of people coming together in a place they create to live in
some particular way. The variety of intentional communities is nearly
infinite: some are religious, some are not; politics run the gamut;
they are large and small, rural and urban, ecologically minded and
materialistic. They include monasteries, communes, anarchic squatter
houses, cooperative housing, co-housing, kibbutzim, Christian activist
communities, Shaker communities, and many other kinds of groups.
Making generalizations about intentional communities is about as
accurate as making generalizations about people.
One of the few things that can be said about most intentional
communities across the board is that they are built on a stronger sense
of community than is common in a conventional setting. People know
each other better, work and/or play together, and in most cases share
some values, goals, or beliefs. There are real advantages to living in
a place of this kind for people who are open to being an integral part
of their communities.
For most purposes, groups that don't live together aren't intentional
communities in the sense meant here; the term also cannot apply to
'planned developments' and similar places for two reasons: first, the
groups of people who come to them do not necessarily come together in
any meaningful sense. Second, the environment is created by some
external planning group that then sells homes or lots or living units,
rather than being created by the residents
The real power of this idea is the thought that the ways people live in
the Western world today are not the only ways to live. For
Meadowdance, this is attractive because we can build a place where
people are supportive rather than dismissive of children; where ecology
is a primary focus rather than a weakly implemented afterthought; and
where value is placed on people, relationships, and the natural world
rather than on money and possessions. Other groups are attracted by
being able to share religious or artistic or other values.
The term "community" is often used as shorthand for
"intentional community"; however, this is not meant to imply
that intentional communities are the only kind of real community there
are, only to help get around the fact that "intentional
community" is such a mouthful.
Are intentional communities communes? The term
"commune" can mean many different things; while some people
use it as equivalent to "intentional community", this usage
might be confusing in certain circumstances. One fairly precise
definition of a commune is a community where all resources are shared
equally or based on need. In this sense, communes are intentional
communities, but most intentional communities are not communes. Some
people associate communes also with anarchy, drug use,
irresponsibility, lack of financial stability, a temporary lifespan,
and/or a "hippy" lifestyle. These associations don't apply
to most intentional communities, so the term commune is often not a
helpful one when talking about intentional communities.
-- Luc Reid, 23 April 1999
DISCLAIMER: The term "intentional
community" can have different meanings for different people, and
this is only one take on its essential import.
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