Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
Session Abstract or Summary
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
This round table will discuss the historic and contemporary trajectories of collective and cooperative living in Celo Community, Inc and other intentional communities in past and present Southern Appalachia. Participants will include an anthropologist, an historian, and a current resident of the Celo Community, and the session will be convened and mediated by an instructor of Utopian studies.
In the 1930s, noted social reformers saw in rural southern Appalachia the geography and populations to found sundry utopian intentional communities. Many proved short lived, and prospects of communal perfection dimmed in wartime; subsequent national and local issues strained recruitment and participation. However, communities such as Celo in western North Carolina persevered and have since been reinvigorated by new social catalysts while tacking towards ideals of deliberation and sustainability.
Among many questions raised in discussing Appalachia’s relationship to the intentional community movement, participants will be invited to answer: What were and remain the benefits of intentional community living in rural southern Appalachia, and what were and remain the challenges and threats?
Presentation #1 Title
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
This round table will discuss the historic and contemporary trajectories of collective and cooperative living in Celo Community, Inc and other intentional communities in past and present Southern Appalachia. Participants will include an anthropologist, an historian, and a current resident of the Celo Community, and the session will be convened and mediated by an instructor of Utopian studies.
In the 1930s, noted social reformers saw in rural southern Appalachia the geography and populations to found sundry utopian intentional communities. Many proved short lived, and prospects of communal perfection dimmed in wartime; subsequent national and local issues strained recruitment and participation. However, communities such as Celo in western North Carolina persevered and have since been reinvigorated by new social catalysts while tacking towards ideals of deliberation and sustainability.
Among many questions raised in discussing Appalachia’s relationship to the intentional community movement, participants will be invited to answer: What were and remain the benefits of intentional community living in rural southern Appalachia, and what were and remain the challenges and threats?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Ryan W Bell, M.A. is an Instructor of General Studies at Mars Hill University, where among other responsibilities and classes he leads a junior level inter-disciplinary seminar entitled The Utopian Enterprise.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Thomas Luke Manget, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of History at Dalton State College in Georgia, and is currently working on a research project that looks at the relationship between Appalachia and the cooperative community movement of the early twentieth century.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Gred Gross is a resident of Celo Community in Celo, North Carolina of over 30 years.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Joshua Lockyer, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Arkansas Tech University and co-editor of Environmental Anthropology Engaging Ecotopia: Bioregionalism, Permaculture, and Ecovillages published in the Environmental Anthropology & Ethnobiology series by Berghahn Books. He has been studying intentional communities in southern Appalachia and elsewhere since 2000 and is currently working on a book on intentional communities and the commons.
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now
This round table will discuss the historic and contemporary trajectories of collective and cooperative living in Celo Community, Inc and other intentional communities in past and present Southern Appalachia. Participants will include an anthropologist, an historian, and a current resident of the Celo Community, and the session will be convened and mediated by an instructor of Utopian studies.
In the 1930s, noted social reformers saw in rural southern Appalachia the geography and populations to found sundry utopian intentional communities. Many proved short lived, and prospects of communal perfection dimmed in wartime; subsequent national and local issues strained recruitment and participation. However, communities such as Celo in western North Carolina persevered and have since been reinvigorated by new social catalysts while tacking towards ideals of deliberation and sustainability.
Among many questions raised in discussing Appalachia’s relationship to the intentional community movement, participants will be invited to answer: What were and remain the benefits of intentional community living in rural southern Appalachia, and what were and remain the challenges and threats?
