I started observing and documenting American utopian movements several years ago, having always been drawn to the idea of pastoral simplicity myself. On further investigation, it became clear that the desire to carve out a space in the wilderness is the essence of the American dream, dating right back to when Europeans first “discovered” America in the 15th and 16th centuries; communes have popped up all over the continent ever since, often intertwined with spiritual movements.
By the mid-70s, the commune period had ended but the back-to-the-land movement was still in full swing: radical social experiments in group living had been replaced by individual families’ radical experiments in self-sufficiency. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, reducing waste has resurfaced as a priority, with a renewed appreciation for sustainable living. Could this mark the beginning of a new evolutionary stage for communal living?
Homesteading taps into an ever-present American urge to reinvent ourselves in the semi-rural wilderness. In the 1970s, another "white flight" exodus consisted of white, well-educated college kids from middle-class or wealthy backgrounds going back to the land. For many, the choice to live a life of radical austerity and anachronism was certainly a rebellion against the comfort and prosperity of their Eisenhower-era childhoods, but that same background of comfort also offered a security and safety net that made such radical choices possible.
For some, trust funds and allowances actually financed their rural experiments; for most others, family support was more implied than actual—if things really went wrong on the farm, they knew, their parents could bail them out or take them in. But even those who had cut ties with their families altogether were still the recipients of a particular, inherited confidence.
Today, we are seeing another radical shift as working from home means that a rural life of self-sufficiency is possible, thanks to wi-fi. We are already seeing well-heeled residents leaving New York City in favor of the Hudson Valley and further afield. If the new normal is the distributed company, how will that impact cities? The rapid adoption of remote work and automation could accelerate inequalities if white collar professionals spark a mass urban exodus.
In the shadow of the Vietnam War and amidst widespread social upheaval, the 1970s remains the only time in the nation's history when more people moved to rural areas than into the cities. As author Kate Daloz maintains, “The sudden, spontaneous back-to-the-land movement emerged from the collision between this crushing, apocalyptic fear and the generational confidence that convinced its young people they were still entitled to the world as they wanted it.”
At no other moment in American history had anyone seen anything like the shift that happened as the 1960s turned into the 1970s. To a privileged generation exhausted by shouting NO to every aspect of the American society they were raised to inherit, rural life represented a way to say yes. Similarly, when this pandemic is over, our lives may never exist in the same way again.