A refuge and a hope : an oral history of contemporary utopian communities in Russia and Italy

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the practices of three contemporary utopian communities in Russia and Italy in relation to the societal ills they identify and the historical contexts under which they were born. In the case of Italy, the two contemporary utopian communities analyzed developed as a direct result of members’ participation in the student movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In the case of Russia, the community developed in relation to the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent search for a new identity at both the national and grassroots level. The three communities were studied using a combination of oral history and ethnographic methods. The thesis found that while all three communities developed in relation to greater demands for authenticity leading to acute moments of societal upheaval, they took different shapes in terms of intent and organization: political (authoritarian/charismatic, democratic, anarchist, consensual), secular or religious, sexual orientation (ex. some form of non-standard marriage), and more, based on historical-national factors. In the case of Italy, the communities were shaped by members’ demands for greater democracy in the 1960s and 1970s’ student movement, with both communities sharing resources to a greater extent, e.g. accommodation, property, families, economy, etc., while in the case of Russia, the community was made up of individual families living in separate households with minimal sharing, due to the rejection of the collectivism imposed during the Soviet Union. The main uniting thread between all three communities is their ecological nature and emphasis on a return to local production, varying degrees of self-sufficiency, a re-examination of the relationship between humans and nature, and a desire for small-scale and local alternative forms of governance. The main themes explored in relation to the historical contexts under which the communities were born included member’s reasons for conversion, their relationship with nature, their social organization (family, sexuality, gender roles), their economic organization, their views on traditional politics, and finally their belief in education as conducive to societal revolution.