The Business of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Architecture of Communal Societies in the 1960s and 1970s

Description

This book provides an in-depth history of three US-based communal societies that operated in the late 1960s and 1970s―Soul City, Stelle and Twin Oaks―with an emphasis on their financing, marketing, and entrepreneurship processes. These communities reflect the diversity of people who were dissatisfied with the direction in which American society was heading―often underpinned by concerns over racism, sexism, the environment, and capitalism―and decided to take the radical step of joining a communal society. A moral economy approach offers a lens on how these communities were prevented from fully realizing their visions due to the confines of capitalism, as embedded in banking practices, zoning laws, and systemic racism.  Acknowledgments Contents Abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction A Brief History of Communal Societies in the United States Case Studies A Note on Terminology A Note on Sources Chapter 2: The Founding Ideologies of Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks Stelle: A Doomsday Community Twin Oaks: A Utopian Experiment in Behaviorism Soul City: A Black Capitalist Utopia Chapter 3: Pioneers in the Middle of Nowhere: Land and Space Stelle: “the stereotypical American small town—except for the countdown toward doomsday” Twin Oaks: Low Cost, Fast, yet Haphazard Growth Soul City: A Black Utopia in the Clutches of Bureaucracy Summary: The Ideal of the Garden City Chapter 4: No Hippies, Please: Members and Membership Policies Stelle: A Study in Opaque Leadership and Membership Policies Member Profiles: Who Joined Stelle? Stelle: A Summary Profile Twin Oaks and the Perils of a Self-Selecting Membership Twin Oaks Membership Profiles Soul City: The Place to Go for Peace, Quiet and Black Advancement Soul City Resident Profiles Summarizing Membership: “It’s kind of like the finer and finer layers of mesh sifting out all the odd lumps” Chapter 5: Commune, Inc.: The Perils and Benefits of Entrepreneurship Stelle: A Diversified Business Base in a Dying Market Twin Oaks: Initial Business Plans Were Loosely Defined, but Offered a Chance to Experiment Twin Oaks Hammocks: Inertia in the Face of Success Difficulties with Hammock Industry Summary of Twin Oaks’ Various Business Ventures Soul City: The Black Capitalism Base that Wasn’t Summary: Communes and Communal Ventures Face Incredible Adversity Chapter 6: Some Hands on Deck: Labor Politics and Practices Stelle: The Power of Community Labor and the Perils of an Oedipus Complex Twin Oaks’ Labor Credits Outside Work Hammock Industry Summary of Twin Oaks’ Labor Profile Soul City: A Conventionally Run Community, Including Gender Discrimination Clocking Out: Summarizing Labor in Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks Chapter 7: Selling the Dream: Advertising Community and Business Stelle: The World Is Ending, but We’re Doing Fine Here Twin Oaks: Doubling Down on Egalitarianism Twin Oaks Hammocks: Selling When Your Heart Isn’t in It, but Your Need to Live Is Soul City: The Trouble with Trying to Please Everyone Summary: Print Papered the Way for Communities Chapter 8: Everything Has Its Price: Financing a Community Stelle: It Takes a Village to Grow, but a Single Thief to Thwart Progress Twin Oaks: With $30,000 and a Dream Not Quite Outside of the State: Filing Status Soul City: Another Tale of Misplaced Faith and Funds Conclusion: Internal Control Over Funding Helps, but Everything Is Connected Chapter 9: The Invisible Hand, or Crushing Fist, of the State Being Recognized by the State Impact of State Laws and Actions on Communal Development The Invisible or Unacknowledged Benefit of Tax Breaks, Informational Literature, and Funding Small- and Large-Scale Government Financing, Coupled with Small- and Large-Scale Complications Audits: A Long, Strange Trip Through Expensive Legal Channels Conclusion: The State Casts a Powerful Net of Hard and Soft Power Chapter 10: Conclusion: Meandering Toward Utopia Index