Since a lot of people in the permaculture community, and in Degrowth and Deep Adaptation circles, seem to be interested in forming intentional communities “from scratch” (as opposed to working within their existing neighborhood/community, which is always my first recommendation), I’m sharing this good article that might help people avoid some of the pitfalls.
This landed in my email inbox via the organization Shareable which has a steady stream of good content — articles, webinars, podcasts etc.
“Challenges and strategies for anti-capitalist community design (part 1)
“This is the first part in a three-part series on intentional communities and capitalism by Sky Blue.
“Capitalism isn’t just an economic system we live inside. It is a culture that lives inside of us. It influences our psychology, how we design our communities, how we relate to each other, the kind of culture we create, and what’s possible for us to do together.
“Capitalism is one of the most harmful aspects of mainstream society and is deeply entwined with white supremacy, patriarchy, colonialism, and imperialism. Societies, including micro-societies like intentional communities (ICs), are a mixture of structures and culture, and economies are a key aspect with implications for both. Capitalism is a structure that encourages individual finances and embeds commodification and transaction into our relationships with each other and the world around us. This fosters and reinforces a culture of hyper-individualism, privacy, competition, objectification, and entitlement. It creates an experience of separation, isolation, loneliness, and fear, and normalizes inequality, oppression, exploitation, and violence.
“ICs are idealistic responses to the problems of society. We see and experience the harm caused by human civilization on people and ecosystems. We want to live in a way that is more healthy and satisfying, where we can have a different relationship to people and place. We want lifestyles that align with our values and help make the world better. But as much as we want something different, we are susceptible to recreating the problems we want to solve.”
Go here to read the rest of the article, and to read parts 2 and 3 of the series:
https://www.shareable.net/intentional-community-and-capitalism/
IC, intentional community, capitalism, hyperindividualism