Commitment and community;: Communes and utopias in sociological perspective

By Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Book Overview

What makes some communes work, while others fail? Why is it so difficult to put utopian ideals into practice? Rosabeth Kanter offers a unique analysis of the nature and process of enduring commitment, basing her theory of commitment mechanisms on exhaustive research of nineteenth-century utopias, sharpened by first-hand knowledge of a variety of contemporary groups. The book moves in a lively fashion from Oneida, Brook Farm, and the Shakers to present-day phenomena such as rural communes and Synanon.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674145755
• ISBN13: 9780674145757
• Release Date: January 1972
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 303 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

understanding communes

Perhaps it was appropriate that this book came out in 1972, possibly inspired by what we now see as all too brief heyday for communes in the US. Kanter looks at the history of communes. Often these had a religious inspiration, being a search for an elusive utopia. We see that the historical record of commune longevity is poor. Most quickly failed. Kanter analyses why some managed to prevail much longer than others. An important factor was the use of affirmative social norms, along with a clear ideological demarcation between the commune and the broader society. The last section of the book describes modern [ie. 1960s] US communes. 35 years later, her remarks are fairly accurate. She predicted they would have difficulties in sustaining membership and that their ideologies might not suffice to do so.