Communal Utopias and the American Experience Religious Communities, 1732-2000

Subjects:

• History » American History (General)
• Religious Studies » History of Religion
• Philosophy » Philosophical Theory

Reviews:

• Sutton a leading student of the French Icarian movement, has written a concise study of religious utopias in the US from the establishment of the Ephrata Cloister in the 18th century to various intentional communities of the 20th century....Sutton has produced a readable and important study....Recommended.
  —Choice April 2004
• A worthy cataloguing of better-known and rare secular utopias, this volume belongs on the shelf of every university, college, and community library.
  —Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 2005
• Icaria historian Robert Sutton has authored a welcome addition to the growing number of books that summarize America's utopian and communal experiences. Although many books on communalism have been published recently, Sutton is concerned that most have either told fragments of the whole story--accounts of individual groups--or were directories that stress only highlights. Sutton achieves his purpose of presenting a compact single volume that recounts the best best known and, arguably, the most influential American religious communities....This volume will have considerable value for students, general readers, and scholars seeking to fill in the gaps of their own knowledge. For anyone seeking to understand the history of religious communes in the United States, especially its major groups, the book is recommended highly.
  —Utopian Studies March 2005
• [I]mproves upon previous reference books in its coverage and currency.
  —The Journal of American History March 2005
• [S]utton has fulfilled his purpose in alleviating us of the fragmentation in the field....This is an important contribution in many fields. The history of religious studies in North America benefits tremendously; as does any cultural/historical field of study. I can recommend this book to everybody with an interest in religious studies, the culture and historical geography of the United States/North America, and those with interests in communal communities.
  —Studies in Religion 2004

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• The Ephrata Cloister
• Shaker Communities
• Separatist Colonies
• Oneida
• The Hutterite Brethren
• Jewish Agricultural Colonies
• California's Exotic Brotherhoods
• Twentieth Century Religious Communities
• Selected Bibliography