Hverdagslivets kritik – Økosamfund i Danmark

and combined in various ways in the individual communities. One is an ecoindustrial
component referring to nature as a model and a standard, strongly inspired
by permaculture design ideals. Another is a nature-centred version of
New Age-spirituality; and the third is a new, locally anchored rural domesticity
based on modern family ideals. The vision is basically about changing the direction
of societal development to establish more sustainable lifestyles without
rolling back the advantages of modernity.
Chapter five analyses the practical work of operationalizing the ecovillage
vision in the process of establishing a new ecovillage. The analysis shows that
the eco-industrial aspect is the easiest to employ in practice, probably because
of its affinities with familiar concerns of effectiveness, saving etc. This was the
only aspect established by the group as a standard against which all private
plans for e.g. choice of heating technologies should be measured. The chapter
also shows the difficulties connected with generalising discussions touching
certain areas of everyday life. In the area of heating technology the group succeeded
in establishing a generally valid standard, but in the area of house size
they did not. This indicates that the house itself has a special status, making it
harder to legitimize subjecting choices influencing the house itself to group approval.
In addition, the analysis demonstrates the non-objective and elusive nature
of the concept of sustainability and how it is easier to reject technologies
on grounds on unsustainability than accept them as sustainable once and for all.
Chapter six analyses the function of meetings in the ecovillages in the light
of widespread frustration over their perceived lack of efficiency. The analysis
indicates that the meetings are actually used for many purposes besides decision-making.
The meeting is an important element in the everyday life of
ecovillages and possibly central in constituting the otherness of ecovillages
compared to other forms of everyday life. It is in the meetings that everyday
practices are or can be confronted with the critical ambitions of the ecovillages.
Ecovillages without meetings would thus no longer be able to claim any potential
of critique as part of their identity. In addition to this, the meetings serve as
a performative demonstration of the central ecovillage ideal of consensual decision
making. Meetings also serve a ritual-like function which helps establish
cohesion in the communities. However, the meetings may also have unintended
and perhaps damaging consequences in that the meeting form favors persons
with particular sets of competences. This may contribute in unintended ways to
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