Communes and the green vision : counterculture, lifestyle and the New Age / David Pepper.

"Communes and the Green Vision provides a dramatic insight into the ideas and ideals of the members of twelve communes in England, Scotland and Wales. In a series of in-depth interviews with over eighty members of communes set up in the wake of the environmental concerns of the seventies, David Pepper has tested one of the principal beliefs of the green movement today - that communal lifestyles and small-scale organisation will be central to the socially just and environmentally sustainable society of the future. Commune members from widely differing backgrounds talk about their hopes and fears for the future, the obstacles they face in living a greener lifestyle, and the impact of the ecological crisis. The issues they face reflect the problems confronting society at large, and the author assesses the potential of communes as forerunners of a green society in the light of a number of key questions that all of us must answer, including those of us committed to environmental reform. Such questions include whether it is a higher priority to change society's values or to change the economic system, and whether individual reform of one's own lifestyle is more important than collective action. David Pepper goes beyond the immediate ideas and activities of the communes and their members to describe a range of green perspectives and ideologies - including liberal, socialist and anarchist - as well as the ideas and philosophy of the New Age movement." -- Provided by publisher.