Page 8 - C.A.L.L. #29 - Winter 2007

Sustainability was a prominent topic at the 2007 meeting of the
International Communal Studies Association in Damanhur,
northern Italy. Both the opening and closing plenary sessions
included presentations on the topic by leading activists and
scholars in the field: ‘Communal Economics in a Post-Petroleum
World’ by Albert Bates and ‘Gaia in Utopia 2107’ by Ross Jackson.
Many individual papers also explored the theme such as Joshua
Lockyer’s ‘Environmental values and contemporary intentional
community building’. Both Albert Bates and Joshua Lockyer agreed
to write pieces specially for C.A.L.L., on the connection between
communal living and sustainability.

The potential links between sustainability and intentional communities was a main theme that
prompted me to write my recently completed anthropology doctoral dissertation on ecovillages
and other sustainability-oriented intentional communities. While I was aware of the massive surge
in the number of sustainability-oriented intentional communities over the last ten to twelve years,
the conference made it clear to me that this is a topic of great interest among young scholars and
community activists.

The fact that small scale,
cooperative, communally
organized societies are often
more sustainable than are
large-scale, hierarchical,
complex societies is a point
that becomes increasingly clear
when one examines the
plethora of anthropological
and other social science
research on the topic. Very
often in tribal and traditional
agricultural societies, we see
people cooperating in order to
protect and sustain the
resources and ecosystem
services upon which there is a
common dependence. This type of cooperation requires the social familiarity, shared values, and
direct connection to people and place that are more readily achievable in small-scale, cooperative,
communally-organized societies than in the massive, mobile, and consumerist societies in which so
many people reside today.

In a sense, what we are faced with today is the necessity of sustainably managing what is
increasingly recognized as a global commons. This task will require a combination of global
awareness and local action. While we cannot be expected to forgo some of the benefits that arise
from large-scale social, political and economic institutions – benefits such as medical technologies
that save human lives and prevent human suffering – small-scale social organizing will be a key to
global sustainability. It is thus heartening to see a growing movement of ecovillages and
sustainability-oriented intentional communities bringing a global awareness to the task of
relocalization. These communities are natural experiments that are pointing the way toward a
more sustainable future and cultivating the kinds of values and practices that must become more
widespread if we are to create a more just and sustainable world. It is also heartening to see a
growing number of academics and politicians paying attention to these experimental communities.
If we are to effectively address the many challenges we face as we strive for sustainability, people
from all walks of life must be brought into the fold of cooperative, intentional community
organizing. Spread the words and the ways!

Joshua Lockyer, Ph.D., Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of Georgia, jlockyer@uga.edu

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