2025/07/03 by Sylvi Siebler · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #European history and politics #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/27708888.2025.2596545
openalex publication_date 2025/07/03 · openalex created_date 2025/12/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
Originating in the US in the early 1960s, the phenomenon of rural communes reached Western Europe around the time the student revolt of “1968” collapsed. Coming together in the countryside, young people sought to put theoretical reflections on social revolution into practice. A critical stance toward urban life and capitalism, combined with a concern for environmental protection and desire for a sustainable, simple lifestyle, stimulated discussions about an alternative way of life within the countercultural sphere. The central premise was to live outside the industrial order and as close to nature as possible. In turn, the concept of nature and the individual’s role within the collective were often interpreted in mystical and spiritual terms. Using the French and West German rural commune scenes of the 1960s and 1970s as examples, this article examines ecological farming and consumption, healthy nutrition, the relationship between body and mind, the rejection of nuclear power, and the pursuit of soft technologies, placing them amid discourses on ecology and the environment that shaped life in rural communes.