The Business of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Architecture of Communal Societies in the 1960s and 1970s

Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction
	A Brief History of Communal Societies in the United States
	Case Studies
	A Note on Terminology
	A Note on Sources
Chapter 2: The Founding Ideologies of Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks
	Stelle: A Doomsday Community
	Twin Oaks: A Utopian Experiment in Behaviorism
	Soul City: A Black Capitalist Utopia
Chapter 3: Pioneers in the Middle of Nowhere: Land and Space
	Stelle: “the stereotypical American small town—except for the countdown toward doomsday”
	Twin Oaks: Low Cost, Fast, yet Haphazard Growth
	Soul City: A Black Utopia in the Clutches of Bureaucracy
	Summary: The Ideal of the Garden City
Chapter 4: No Hippies, Please: Members and Membership Policies
	Stelle: A Study in Opaque Leadership and Membership Policies
	Member Profiles: Who Joined Stelle?
	Stelle: A Summary Profile
	Twin Oaks and the Perils of a Self-Selecting Membership
	Twin Oaks Membership Profiles
	Soul City: The Place to Go for Peace, Quiet and Black Advancement
	Soul City Resident Profiles
	Summarizing Membership: “It’s kind of like the finer and finer layers of mesh sifting out all the odd lumps”
Chapter 5: Commune, Inc.: The Perils and Benefits of Entrepreneurship
	Stelle: A Diversified Business Base in a Dying Market
	Twin Oaks: Initial Business Plans Were Loosely Defined, but Offered a Chance to Experiment
	Twin Oaks Hammocks: Inertia in the Face of Success
	Difficulties with Hammock Industry
	Summary of Twin Oaks’ Various Business Ventures
	Soul City: The Black Capitalism Base that Wasn’t
	Summary: Communes and Communal Ventures Face Incredible Adversity
Chapter 6: Some Hands on Deck: Labor Politics and Practices
	Stelle: The Power of Community Labor and the Perils of an Oedipus Complex
	Twin Oaks’ Labor Credits
	Outside Work
	Hammock Industry
	Summary of Twin Oaks’ Labor Profile
	Soul City: A Conventionally Run Community, Including Gender Discrimination
	Clocking Out: Summarizing Labor in Soul City, Stelle, and Twin Oaks
Chapter 7: Selling the Dream: Advertising Community and Business
	Stelle: The World Is Ending, but We’re Doing Fine Here
	Twin Oaks: Doubling Down on Egalitarianism
	Twin Oaks Hammocks: Selling When Your Heart Isn’t in It, but Your Need to Live Is
	Soul City: The Trouble with Trying to Please Everyone
	Summary: Print Papered the Way for Communities
Chapter 8: Everything Has Its Price: Financing a Community
	Stelle: It Takes a Village to Grow, but a Single Thief to Thwart Progress
	Twin Oaks: With $30,000 and a Dream
	Not Quite Outside of the State: Filing Status
	Soul City: Another Tale of Misplaced Faith and Funds
	Conclusion: Internal Control Over Funding Helps, but Everything Is Connected
Chapter 9: The Invisible Hand, or Crushing Fist, of the State
	Being Recognized by the State
	Impact of State Laws and Actions on Communal Development
	The Invisible or Unacknowledged Benefit of Tax Breaks, Informational Literature, and Funding
	Small- and Large-Scale Government Financing, Coupled with Small- and Large-Scale Complications
	Audits: A Long, Strange Trip Through Expensive Legal Channels
	Conclusion: The State Casts a Powerful Net of Hard and Soft Power
Chapter 10: Conclusion: Meandering Toward Utopia
Index