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Today, the term 'commune' is a bit tainted with the 1960s, but the term 'intentional community' is more often used where 'commune' would have been forty years ago. There are many contemporary intentional communities all over the world, a list of which can be found at the Online Communities Directory . CATEGORIZATION OF COMMUNES Benjamin Zablocki categorized communes this way:
Of course, many communal ventures encompass more than one of these categorizations. Some communes, like the ashrams of the Vedanta Society or the Theosophical commune Lomaland , formed around spiritual leaders; while some communes formed around political ideologies. For others, the "glue" is simply the desire for a more shared, sociable lifestyle. Moreover, some people find it is just more economical to live communally. Many contemporary Squatters pool their resources in this way, forming urban communes in unoccupied buildings. MARXIST COMMUNE The commune is an important element of Marxist theory. Within Marxism it is seen as the main body of political organization during the first phase of communist society ( Socialism ). The commune is the rational tool for the Proletariat to govern their state, just as the Parliament is the tool for the Bourgeoisie to govern their state. Marx explains the purpose and function of the commune during the period that he termed the Dictatorship Of The Proletariat : Basing himself on his study of The Civil War In France he details how the commune is to function if it is to serve workers in the governance of their state. He also details how the commune must use its powers to prevent the capitalists from destroying the newly formed workers' state: Clearly the commune is to have a much higher purpose than the government of each city. Marx again turns to the Paris Commune in his analysis. Here he advocates what would later be known as Soviet Democracy : COMMUNES IN UNITED STATES Although communes are most frequently associated with the Hippie movement-- the " Back-to-the-land " ventures of the 1960s and 1970s-- there is a long history of communes in America. A few notable examples include:
COMMUNES IN THE WORLD Beyond the United States, there have been other famous communes, such as the Paris Commune of 1871. (Of course, many cultures naturally practice communal living, and wouldn't designate their way of life as a planned 'commune' per se, though their living situation may have many characteristics of a commune.) One of the examples of communal living is Kibbutz im in Israel . BIBLIOGRAPHY
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