Hi, my name is Caleb, and I really will be discussing communes. You might think the topic of communes sounds a bit out there. I agree! Hippie vibes, right? That’s why I usually call them intentional communities. You can call them that too if you like, but we’re still gonna call this column Caleb’s Communes, because it’s a great name.
Some background about myself is that I’m a third year and a recently declared anthropology major. I enjoy spending my time each week with activist communities here at Grinnell. I live in Grinnell United Activist Collective (GUAC) apartment where we host a community meal for fellow activists every Friday, and I am involved with the town of Grinnell’s Extinction Rebellion chapter.
I’ve chosen to write about intentional communities because they’re a big curiosity of mine. I recently traveled to Europe to visit a number of them. My own observations have shown me they nurture aspects of community we are missing in our hyper-individualized culture. Hopefully, you don’t just think I’m into cults. But if you do, that’s okay, because they also sound pretty interesting.
I’ve encountered a fair bit of talk on campus about these types of communities, so I figured Grinnell would be the right crowd for this column. Many Grinnellians are interested in intentional living without even realizing it. Maybe they live in a project house (debatably a commune), make fun food together with floormates or harvest veggies with their friends at the Grinnell College Garden. All of these things require intentional standards and community.
My point is, Grinnellians hold communal values to a high degree. They want to be part of a community that prioritizes keeping one another accountable for a greater good, like the campus culture of self-gov. Many people here want to eat food that was responsibly raised and cooked with care, or at least with more spices than they use in D-Hall.
Communes can seem pretty far out there, and some of them definitely are. I don’t expect all communes to make sense to everyone. But they’re interesting places to learn about, and I believe they can be centers for practicing new or forgotten ways of living.
I’ll provide examples in my column of some far-out communes I’ve visited. Maybe I can convince you they’re doing some impactful work. I’ll also be talking about some communes I’ve visited that aren’t quite as radical. These ones might seem more practical or feasible to you. In some of these cases, people just like to be good neighbors and share meals a few nights a week. That should sound doable enough.
So I hope you’ll look forward to my column, as there will be diversity in the places I talk about. Some will be anarchist enclaves, where there is tension and conflict with police. One will be a religious community, dedicated to a following of Jesus based on a specific interpretation of the Bible. There will also be a couple co-housing groups, and there will be a group that’s famous for its open illegal marijuana trade. And there will be one or two in between. I would hypothetically live in all of them, but I’m curious to see what you think.
Each of my analyses will have some similar structure. They will all have some personal anecdotes, and I’ll connect each of them to the broader picture of systems they are a part of as well as the history of the group. I’ll try and end each column with some of my own opinions about the group. This will likely include pros I see to living in that type of intentional community, as well as some modest and fair critiques of that way of living compared to others.
My column will be issued bi-weekly, and I’ll discuss a different commune I’ve visited each time. Depending on who you are, you might think some will sound appealing. It’s also
possible you’ll decide I’m a little nutty for visiting some of them. Either response is appreciated. I just hope my descriptions, stories and anthropological assessments will be at the very least entertaining, and occasionally intriguing or inspiring.
There are a lot of ways to live as a community. I’m excited to share with you a few of the social experiments I’ve encountered.
