Editing Intentional community (section)

== By country ==
{{see also|List of intentional communities}}

=== Australia ===
In [[Australia]], many intentional communities started with the hippie movement and those searching for social alternatives to the nuclear family. One of the oldest continuously running communities is called "[[Moora Moora]] Co-operative Community"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mooramoora.org.au |title=Moora Moora Co-operative Community|website=arachnoid.net.au|access-date=28 October 2021|language=en}}</ref> with about 47 members (Oct 2021). Located at the top of [[Mount Toolebewong]], 65&nbsp;km east of Melbourne, Victoria at an altitude of 600–800 m, this community has been entirely off the electricity grid since its inception in 1974. Founding members still resident include Peter and Sandra Cock.

=== Canada ===
Utopian communities were established in Canada at [[Brights Grove, Ontario]], [[Holberg, British Columbia| Holberg, BC]] and [[Ruskin, British Columbia|Ruskin, BC]]. The Finnish settlement at [[Sointula]], on Malcolm Island, BC, is a well-known historical Canadian utopian settlement. An Ontario Quaker sect, [[The Children of Peace]], formed a utopian farm settlement at the community of Hope (now Sharon) in East Gwillimbury, York Region, which operated from 1825 to 1889. Prairie activist [[Edward Alexander Partridge|E.A. Partridge]] discussed the possibilities of a utopian co-operative commonwealth called  "Coalsamao" in his book ''A war on poverty: the one war that can end war''.<ref>Thomas 1984, p. 180</ref>

As well, other settlements were established on [[Temperance movement|temperance]], [[Henry George]], [[Tolstoyan movement|Tolstoyan]], [[Doukhobors|Doukhobor]], [[Orthodox Mennonites|Orthodox Mennonite]] and [[Hutterites|Hutterite]] principles.<ref>Rasporich, "Utopian Ideals and Community Settlements in Western Canada 1880-1914", in ''Prairie West Historic Readings'', edited by R. Douglas Francis and Howard Palmer, 1992</ref><ref>Fort Pitt Hutterite Colony (Frenchman Butte, Saskatchewan, Canada) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Accessed March 28, 2025</ref>

[[List of  intentional communities|Several intentional settlements]] exist today in Canada.

=== Germany ===
[[File:Rhon Bruderhof Building.jpg|thumb|A building on the Rhön [[Bruderhof]]]]

The first wave of [[List of German utopian communities|utopian communities in Germany]] began during a period of rapid urbanization between 1890 and 1930. At least about 100 intentional communities are known to have started,{{sfn|Conti|1984|p=66-149}} but data is unreliable.{{sfn|Wedemeyer-Kolwe|2017|p=132}} The communities often pursued [[Freikörperkultur|nudism]], [[vegetarianism|vegetarian]] and [[organic food|organic]] agriculture, as well as [[anabaptism]], [[theosophy]], [[anarchism]], [[socialism]], [[eugenics]] or other religious and political ideologies. Historically, German emigrants were also influential in the creation of intentional communities in other countries, such as the [[Bruderhof]] in the United States of America and [[Kibbutz]]im in Israel.
In the 1960s, there was a resurgence of communities calling themselves communes, starting with the [[Kommune 1]] in [[Berlin]], without knowledge of or influence by previous movements.{{sfn|Wedemeyer-Kolwe|2017|p=158}}
A large number of contemporary intentional communities define themselves as communes, and there is a network of political communes called "Kommuja"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kommuja.de |title=Kommuja-Netzwerk |website=kommuja.de |access-date=28 September 2010 |language=de}}</ref> with about 40 member groups (May 2023).

In the German commune book, {{lang|de|Das KommuneBuch}}, communes are defined by Elisabeth Voß as communities which:{{sfn|Voß|1996|p=17–26}}
* Live and work together
* Have a communal economy, i.e., common finances and common property (land, buildings, [[means of production]])
* Have communal decision making – usually consensus decision making
* Try to reduce hierarchy and hierarchical structures
* Have communalization of housework, childcare and other communal tasks
* Have equality between women and men
* Have low [[ecological footprint]]s through sharing and saving resources

=== Israel ===
[[File:PikiWiki 3560 Architecture of the Golan Heights.jpg|thumb|The communal dining hall in [[Kibbutz]] [[Merom Golan]], ca. 1968–1972]]

[[Kibbutz]]im in [[Israel]], (sing., kibbutz) are examples of officially organized communes, the first of which were based on agriculture. Other Israeli communities are [[Kvutza]], [[Community settlement|Yishuv Kehilati]], [[Moshavim]] and [[Youth village|Kfar No'ar]]. Today, there are dozens of urban communes growing in the cities of Israel, often called [[urban kibbutz]]im. The urban kibbutzim are smaller and more [[Anarchism|anarchist]].<ref>Horrox, James. "A Living Revolution: Anarchism in the Kibbutz Movement", pp. 87–109</ref> Most of the urban communes in Israel emphasize social change, education, and local involvement in the cities where they live. Some of the urban communes have members who are graduates of [[zionism|zionist]]-[[socialism|socialist]] youth movements, like [[HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed]], [[HaMahanot HaOlim]] and [[Hashomer Hatsair]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Horrox |first=James |title=Rebuilding Israel's Utopia |journal=Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture |date=October 2007}}</ref>

=== Ireland ===
In 1831 John Vandeleur (a landlord) established a commune on his [[Ralahine|Ralahine Estate]] at [[Newmarket-on-Fergus]], [[County Clare]]. Vandeleur asked Edward Thomas Craig, an English socialist, to formulate rules and regulations for the commune. It was set up with a population of 22 adult single men, 7 married women and their 7 husbands, 5 single women, 4 orphan boys and 5 children under the age of 9 years. No money was employed, only credit notes could be used in the commune shop. All occupants were committed to a life with no alcohol, tobacco, snuff or gambling. All were required to work for 12 hours a day during the summer and from dawn to dusk in winter. The social experiment prospered for a time, and 29 new members joined. 

However, in 1833 the experiment collapsed due to the gambling debts of John Vandeleur. The members of the commune met for the last time on 23 November 1833 and placed on record a declaration of "the contentment, peace and happiness they had experienced for two years under the arrangements introduced by Mr. Vandeleur and Mr. Craig and which through no fault of the Association was now at an end".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/industrialcoope00pricgoog <!-- quote="the contentment, peace and happiness they had experienced for two years under the arrangements introduced by Mr. Vandeleur and Mr. Craig and which through no fault of the Association was now at an end". --> ''Industrial Co-operation, the Story of a Peaceful Revolution: Being the Account of the History, Theory, and Practice of the Co-operative Movement in Great Britain and Ireland: Prepared for the Co-operative Education Association''], Catherine Webb, Co-operative union, limited, 1907, p. 64</ref>

=== Russia ===
In [[Russian Empire|imperial Russia]], the vast majority of Russian peasants held their land in communal ownership within a [[Mir (commune)|''mir'']] community, which acted as a village government and a cooperative.<ref>Энгельгардт, Александр, Письма из деревни, М., 1987</ref><ref>Морозов, Юрий, Пути России. М., 1992, т. 2, гл. 13</ref> The very widespread and influential pre-Soviet Russian tradition of monastic communities of both sexes could also be considered a form of communal living. After the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|end of communism in Russia]], [[monastic communities]] have again become more common, populous and, to a lesser degree, more influential in Russian society. Various patterns of Russian behavior — {{transliteration|ru|toloka}} (толока), {{transliteration|ru|pomochi}} (помочи), {{transliteration|ru|[[artel]]}} (артель) — are also based on communal ("мирские") traditions.

In the years immediately following the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|revolutions of 1917]] [[Tolstoyan movement|Tolstoyan]] communities proliferated in Russia, but later they were eventually wiped out or stripped of their independence as [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivisation]] and ideological purges got under way in the late 1920s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/tolstoys-guiding-light|title=Tolstoy's Guiding Light|author=Charlotte Alston|year=2010|publisher=[[History Today]]}}</ref> Colonies, such as the [[Life and Labor Commune]], relocated to [[Siberia]] to avoid being liquidated. Several Tolstoyan leaders, including [[Yakov Dragunovsky]] (1886-1937), were put on trial and then sent to the [[Gulag]] prison camps.<ref>[[Charles Chatfield]], [[Ruzanna Iliukhina]] ''Peace/Mir: An Anthology of Historic Alternatives to War'' 	Syracuse University Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0815626010}}, (p.245, 249-250).</ref>

Some Tolstoyans emigrated to Canada.<ref>"Leo Tolstoy's Teachings and the Sons of Freedom in Canada", https://doukhobor.org/leo-tolstoys-teachings-and-the-sons-of-freedom-in-canada/ Accessed March 28, 2025</ref>

=== South Africa ===
In 1991, [[Afrikaners]] in [[South Africa]] founded the controversial Afrikaner-only town of [[Orania]], with the goal of creating a stronghold for the Afrikaner minority group, the Afrikaans language and the Afrikaner culture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Orania and the third reinvention of the Afrikaner - Carel Boshoff - DOCUMENTS|url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/orania-and-the-third-reinvention-of-the-afrikaner-|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Politicsweb}}</ref> By 2022, the population was 2,500. The town was experiencing rapid growth and the population had climbed by 55% from 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afrikaners-flee-to-their-desert-eden-g8vbg8qc7 |title=Archive.ph |website=[[The Times]] |access-date=2022-10-10 |archive-date=2022-06-15 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220615164734/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afrikaners-flee-to-their-desert-eden-g8vbg8qc7 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> They favour a model of strict Afrikaner self-sufficiency and have their own currency, bank and local government, and only employ Afrikaners.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/24/an-indictment-of-south-africa-whites-only-town-orania-is-booming |title='An indictment of South Africa': Whites-only town Orania is booming |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=24 October 2019}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
[[File:Findhorn wind turbines.jpg|thumb|The wind turbines at Findhorn make the Ecovillage a net exporter of electricity.]]
A 19th century advocate and practitioner of communal living was the [[utopian socialism|utopian socialist]] [[John Goodwyn Barmby]], who founded a Communist Church before becoming a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Utopias and Utopians: An Historical Dictionary |last=Trahair |first=R.C.S |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=0-313-29465-8 |location=Westport |pages=[https://archive.org/details/utopiasutopiansh0000trah/page/27 27–28] |url=https://archive.org/details/utopiasutopiansh0000trah/page/27}}</ref>

[[The Simon Community]] in [[London]] is an example of social cooperation, made to ease [[Homelessness in the United Kingdom|homelessness]] within London. It provides food and religion and is staffed by homeless people and volunteers.<ref name="The Simon Community">{{cite web |url=http://www.simoncommunity.org.uk/ |title=The Simon Community |quote=We are a community of homeless people and volunteers living and working together in a spirit of love, acceptance, tolerance and understanding. We aim to reach out to support and campaign for people who are experiencing homelessness, and particularly those for whom no other provision exists |date=2014-03-21 |publisher=The Simon Community |access-date=2014-03-21}}</ref> Mildly nomadic, they run street "cafés" which distribute food to their known members and to the general public.

The [[Bruderhof]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/communities/existing/south-east-england |title=South East England {{!}} Diggers and Dreamers |website=www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk |access-date=2019-04-30 |archive-date=2020-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615090413/https://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/communities/existing/south-east-england |url-status=dead }}</ref> has three locations in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/25/inside-the-bruderhof-review-is-this-a-religious-stirring-i-feel |title=Inside the Bruderhof review – is this a religious stirring I feel?|last=Mangan |first=Lucy |author-link=Lucy Mangan |date=2019-07-25 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2019-08-15 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In [[Glandwr, Pembrokeshire|Glandwr]], near [[Crymych]], [[Pembrokeshire]], a co-op called [[Lammas Ecovillage]] focuses on planning and [[sustainable development]]. Granted planning permission by the [[Welsh Government]] in 2009, it has since created 9 holdings and is a central communal hub for its community.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lammas.org.uk/ |title=Lammas |quote=The Lammas project has been created to pioneer an alternative model for living on the land. It empowers people to explore what it is to live a low-impact lifestyle. It demonstrates that alternatives are possible here and now. |date=2014-03-21 |publisher=Lammas |access-date=2014-03-21}}</ref> In [[Scotland]], the [[Findhorn Foundation]] founded by [[Peter Caddy|Peter]] and [[Eileen Caddy]] and [[Dorothy Maclean]] in 1962<ref name="Findhorn Foundation">{{cite web |url=http://www.findhorn.org/aboutus/vision/history/#.UyuHWPl_uSo |title=Findhorn Foundation – Findhorn Foundation History |quote=The Findhorn Community was begun in 1962 by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy Maclean. |date=2014-03-21 |publisher=Findhorn Foundation |access-date=2014-03-21 |archive-date=2014-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321075353/http://www.findhorn.org/aboutus/vision/history/#.UyuHWPl_uSo |url-status=dead }}</ref> is prominent for its educational centre and experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in [[Moray]], Scotland, near the village of [[Findhorn]].<ref name="local">Local relations between the [[Findhorn Foundation]] and the village of [[Findhorn]] have occasionally foundered over inconsiderate use of the word "Findhorn" to mean either the former or the Ecovillage. See, for example, Walker (1994), [[Talk:Findhorn Foundation]] and also [[Findhorn (disambiguation)]].</ref>

The [[Findhorn Ecovillage]] community at The Park, Findhorn, a village in Moray, Scotland, and at [[Cluny Hill]] in [[Forres]], now houses more than 400 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Martin |last2=Fournier |first2=Valerie |last3=Reedy |first3=Patrick |title=The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopian and Organization |date=2007 |publisher=[[Zed Books]] |isbn=978-1-84277-333-8 |page=100}}</ref>

Historic [[Agricultural commune|agricultural examples]] include the [[Diggers]] settlement on [[St George's Hill]], Surrey during the [[English Civil War]] and the [[Clousden Hill Free Communist and Co-operative Colony]] near [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] during the 1890s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St George's Hill – Surrey Diggers Trail |url=https://www.diggerstrail.org.uk/st-george-s-hill/ |access-date=2021-03-15 |website=www.diggerstrail.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Henderson |first=Tony |date=2015-12-16 |title=How Clousden Hill communist agricultural colony in Newcastle sought to change the world |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/how-clousden-hill-communist-agricultural-10602306 |access-date=2021-03-15 |website=ChronicleLive |language=en}}</ref>

=== United States ===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:American-Commune-Bedtime-Story.jpg|thumb|A young couple from an American commune reads a bedtime story. {{FFDC|1=American-Commune-Bedtime-Story.jpg|log=2009 August 31|date=May 2012}}]] -->
There is a long history of [[List of American utopian communities|utopian communities in America]] that led to the rise in the communes of the [[hippie]] movement—the "[[back-to-the-land]]" ventures of the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kanter |first=Rosabeth Moss |author-link=Rosabeth Moss Kanter |title=Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/commitmentcommun00kant |url-access=registration |access-date=March 14, 2014 |date=January 1, 1972 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-14576-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/commitmentcommun00kant/page/32 32]}}</ref> One commune that played a large role in the hippie movement was [[Kaliflower Commune|Kaliflower]], a utopian living cooperative that existed in [[San Francisco]] between 1967 and 1973 built on values of [[free love]] and [[anti-capitalism]].

[[Andrew Jacobs (journalist)|Andrew Jacobs]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in 2006 that "after decades of contraction, the American commune movement has been expanding since the mid-1990s, spurred by the growth of settlements that seek to marry the utopian-minded commune of the 1960s with the American predilection for privacy and capital appreciation".<ref name="NYTimes 2006-06-11">{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Jacobs |author-link=Andrew Jacobs (journalist) |title=Extreme Makeover, Commune Edition |date=2006-06-11 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/weekinreview/11jacobs.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1 |access-date=2009-07-21}}</ref> The [[Fellowship for Intentional Community]] (FIC) is one of the main sources for listings of and more information about communes in the United States.

Although many American communes are short-lived, some have been in operation for over 50 years. The [[Bruderhof Communities|Bruderhof]] was established in the US in 1954,<ref name="ic.org"/> [[Twin Oaks Community, Virginia|Twin Oaks]] in 1967<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.twinoaks.org/ |title=Twin Oaks Intentional Community |website=www.twinoaks.org |language=en-gb |access-date=2017-11-11}}</ref> and [[Koinonia Partners|Koinonia Farm]] in 1942.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.koinoniafarm.org/brief-history/ |title=Brief History |work=Koinonia Farm |access-date=2017-11-11 |language=en-US}}</ref> Twin Oaks is a rare example of a non-religious commune surviving for longer than 30 years. A newer intentional community is [[Synchronicity LA]].