The Modern Utopian. Alternative Communities of the '60s and '70s

Back to the Land. Communes. Intentional Communities. Sustainable Living. It happened in the late '60s and early '70s; it's coming back again. Forty years ago, a corrupt government, rampant consumerism, ecological concerns, and the alienation of modern life drove thousands of idealistic young people to the countryside with dreams of starting their own communities. Some were dazzling creative experiments that burned bright and brief; others evolved through the years and still exist today. Global warming and peak oil concerns, eco-housing, permaculture, and even the Burning Man festival are windows into this tradition of social transformation that is reshaping our culture today. The Modern Utopian by Richard Fairfield is the definitive exploration of the alternative communities that reshaped progressive culture in the '70s. Fairfield spent the better part of a decade visiting and reporting on communes of all types to create an intimate and fascinating view into communal living. This expansively illustrated compilation visits the notorious Drop City, John Sinclair's Translove Energies in Detroit, Stephen Gaskin's farm, and dozens of other alternative communities across the nation. In new supplementary articles, author Timothy Miller (Religious Movements in the United States) discusses some of the ten thousand intentional communities that now span the USA, from today's countercultural edge to senior citizen cohousing.