Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the structural milieu of East Wind Community and to relate the Community's structure to its ideology. The dissertation is in three parts. The first part consists of a theory of social change based on a review of the history of Western utopian thought from about 600 B.C. to the present. The theory developed uses a dialectic approach to the interaction of utopian and dystopian thought. Part two contains a review of mid-range theories of alternative community and an analysis of three alternative communities from the literature. The three communities are compared on the basis of their ideology and structure. Each of the three communities are evaluated in relation to the dominant paradigm at the time of their emergence. Attention is given to the development of ideology within each movement and the effect of their interaction with society. Issues addressed include the economy of production, the economy of consumption, gender relations, social control, and the socialization process. ;Part three is the analysis of East Wind Community. Data for the study of East Wind was collected from two sets of surveys: one in 1978, and the other in 1990/91; interviews with community members; the records of the Community; and two participant observations, one in 1985 and the other in 1990/91. Gender equality has been a major issue for East Wind. There are substantive gender differences over values and objectives among East Wind's members. It is not sufficient to proclaim an ideology. An alternative ideology must be operationalized through socialized behavioral norms to create an alternative social system. ;The major conclusion drawn is that all alternative communities are subject to infiltration of value systems from external culture. The more strident the socialization process into the alternative ideology, the less vulnerable a community is to outside influences