Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now

Utopia Yet Beckons - Intentional Communities in Southern Appalachia Then and Now This round table will discuss the historic and contemporary trajectories of collective and cooperative living in Celo Community, Inc and other intentional communities in past and present Southern Appalachia. Participants will include an anthropologist, an historian, and a current resident of the Celo Community, and the session will be convened and mediated by an instructor of Utopian studies. In the 1930s, noted social reformers saw in rural southern Appalachia the geography and populations to found sundry utopian intentional communities. Many proved short lived, and prospects of communal perfection dimmed in wartime; subsequent national and local issues strained recruitment and participation. However, communities such as Celo in western North Carolina persevered and have since been reinvigorated by new social catalysts while tacking towards ideals of deliberation and sustainability. Among many questions raised in discussing Appalachia’s relationship to the intentional community movement, participants will be invited to answer: What were and remain the benefits of intentional community living in rural southern Appalachia, and what were and remain the challenges and threats