Fourierist Communities of Reform

This book explores the intersections between nineteenth-century social reform movements in the United States. Delving into the little-known history of women who joined income-sharing communities during the 1840s, this book uses four community case studies to examine social activism within communal environments. In a period when women faced legal and social restrictions ranging from coverture to slavery, the emergence of residential communities designed by French utopian writer, Charles Fourier, introduced spaces where female leadership and social organization became possible. Communitarian women helped shape the ideological underpinnings of some of the United States' most enduring and successful reform efforts, including the women's rights movement, the abolition movement, and the creation of the Republican Party. Dr. Hart argues that these movements were intertwined, with activists influencing multiple organizations within unexpected settings.

Explores the nature of social reform, the future of capitalism, and the feasibility of socialist, communitarian economic structures Argues that social reform movements and organizations were overlapping and interdependent in their membership, challenging narratives that frame social reform causes in the US as independent entities Examines the lives of intentional community members after their time living in the community, thus providing information on the long-term impacts of these communities on the lives of individuals

Auteur

Dr. Amy Hart holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has served as a lecturer at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and is currently a public historian for California State Parks.

Contenu
Chapter 1: Introduction to Intentional Communities and Social Change.- Chapter 2: Reverberations of Reform Activism: The Lasting Impact of Trumbull Phalanx.- Chapter 3: Demonstrating Racial Diversity within Community: The Northampton Association of Education and Industry.- Chapter 4: Contested Community: The Wisconsin Phalanx and the Western Frontier.- Chapter 5: Brook Farm: Two Diverging Paths After Community.- Chapter 6: Fourierist Futures: The Lasting Impact of the Fourierist Communities in the 1850s and Beyond