What is a Commune?

by Raven

Quite frequently I look Commune Life up on the internet. Besides this blog and our Facebook feed, I get articles like “Want to Live on a Commune?” and “Lessons from 3 Years living in 4 Communes“.

What bothers me is how they define “commune”. The first article seems to claim it’s just another way of saying “intentional communities”, although later they point out that “intentional communities” include everything from co-housing and eco-villages to “communes” (which now is “where everything from money to food is pooled”). The second says they mean “a set of adults living together by choice rather than economic necessity” and goes on to say, “To be clear, I’m not talking about people sharing their personal incomes…” Unfortunately, when I use the word “commune” I’m exactly talking about people sharing their personal incomes.

A hippie commune from the sixties

Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably knows that I use the word “commune” to describe an income-sharing community, and usually, for here, an egalitarian income-sharing community. Merriam Webster defines a commune as “an often rural community, organized on a communal basis.” And since their definition of “communal” uses communities and communes it becomes a rather circular definition. Britannica has a somewhat more accurate definition: “a group of people who live together and share responsibilities, possessions, etc.” Wikipedia claims “A commune is an alternative term for intentional community. “

On the other hand, the Foundation for Intentional Communities website lists types of communities and says the link to what they call “Communes” “Displays communities which indicated they are 100% income sharing.”

Obviously, the definition of “Commune” is up for grabs. My hope is that through Commune Life we can make the idea of communes as income-sharing communities more widespread–and maybe more attractive, too.

Commune: the movie