How conceptions of the future inform practice, and the degree of engagement with the status quo, in an eco- village in Ireland

Abstract

Intentional communities are often typified by their degree of withdrawal from mainstream, however the literature on intentional communities has identified these fourth wave communities as being typified by their engagement with the mainstream, rather than their degree of withdrawal. Ecological communities are a reified response in present, with a particular temporal orientation. There is increased consideration of these communities as a site of inspiration for a more sustainable mode of living from; academia, the communities themselves as they seek to further their visions, and advisory and governing bodies. Hitherto the majority of literature has taken the form and governance of intentional communities as their object of focus, namely an overt focus on why such communities tend to fail, or instructing them how they can avoid failure, by locating failure in their internal structures and governance rather than in the effects of the surrounding context. Through a three month ethnography in a eco-village in Ireland this study, where I lived and resided in the eco-village full time, this study will outline some themes and commonalities of the conceptions of the future from participants garnered from interviews, and relate them to practices of the eco-village, particularly in regards their degree of withdrawal and estrangement.