Redefining Community in the Ecovillage

Abstract

Ecovillages provide important insights into the human dimensions of sustainability, but remain relatively unexplored. In this paper I highlight critiques of the society/nature divide and emphasize the need to pay attention to the paradigms that influence how people think and what they do. I discuss the ecovillage model as a rejection of the outmoded “dominant western worldview” in favor of one that recognizes human-ecosystem interdependence. Drawing on field research, I examine the practical means by which ecovillages strive to institute and reinforce an alternative paradigm. In addition to explicit intention, rules, the organization of social interaction, and physical characteristics, I identify an expanded notion of community and its accompanying ethic as distinguishing features of the ecovillage. I suggest the possibility that these are necessary features of a sustainable society.