How can we avert ecological catastrophe? How can we build community? What is the practical relevance of utopia? These are some of the questions anthropologist Dan Chodorkoff explores in his essays on social ecology and community development.

The Anthropology of Utopia surveys alternative ways of life that can help us create an ecological society. The solutions to our crises, Chodorkoff argues, lie within our grasp and in our own communities. Chodorkoff offers a wealth of stimulating practical examples, from both urban and rural communities, drawn from his life-long commitment to community politics, and also offers sober reflections on their lessons and significance for future ecological activism.

The Anthropology of Utopia seeks to unite our aspirations and our realities. It is not an academic treatise: it is a call for action. It should be read by anyone who wants to understand and change their community—and the world.

Preface, by Eirik Eiglad

Introduction

1. Social Ecology and Community Development

2. Redefining Development

3. Toward a Reconstructive Anthropology

4. Alternative Technology and Urban Reconstruction

5. The Utopian Impulse

6. Social Ecology: An Ecological Humanism

7. Education for Social Change

8. Occupy Your Neighborhood