Innovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future

This conference commemorates the bicentennial of the Community of Equality (1825-1827), the ambitious social experiment founded by Robert Owen and his partner, William Maclure, in New Harmony, Indiana. Owen envisioned a "New Moral World" where character was shaped by environment, and Maclure championed universal education as the foundation for social progress. Together, they sought to create a cooperative society grounded in education, equity, and shared prosperity.

What can we learn from the experience of past utopian communities? What efforts are currently being made to innovate communities in ways similar to and different from previous experiments? Where are community innovations heading in light of recent social, environmental, technological, and economic challenges?

Call for Proposals

We welcome papers, panels, posters, and workshops that engage with the theme "Innovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future" and use Robert Owen's Community of Equality and other historical intentional community experiments as a point of departure. We…