Labor System Experimentation in Egalitarian Intentional Communities

Abstract

Intentional communities are social movements that are centrally concerned with producing new forms of social organization through experimentation with labor organization. Exploring the experiments of one of these communities, this article analyzes how members (communards) imagine how work can be organized to build a more egalitarian mode of life. Communards’ attitudes toward sharing work while balancing the needs of the community and the individual provide valuable insights into the sometimes paradoxical dynamics and practical relationships between power, hierarchy, justice, and equality. The article highlights how egalitarian life is perceived to come to fruition often through joy and playfulness, which must be balanced with more bureaucratic and rule-bound egalitarian social structures. Furthermore, the article argues that labor should be a central domain in grappling with egalitarian possibilities.