ComeUnity CAPACITY BUILDING

Examples
Trade]
Trade is a form of collaboration between two societies that produce different portfolios
of goods. Trade began in prehistoric times and continues because it benefits all of its
participants. Prehistoric peoples bartered goods and services with each other without a
modern currency. Peter Watson dates the history of long-distance
commerce from circa 150,000 years ago. Trade exists because different communities
have a comparative advantage in the production of tradable goods.
Community organization: Intentional Community
The members of an intentional community typically hold a
common social, political or spiritual vision. They share responsibilities and resources.
Intentional communities include cohousing, residential land
trusts, ecovillages, communes, kibbutzim, ashrams, and housing cooperatives.
Typically, new members of an intentional community are selected by the community's
existing membership, rather than by real estate agents or land owners (if the land is not
owned by the community).
Hutterite, Austria (16th Century)
In Hutterite communities housing units are built and assigned to individual families, but
belong to the colony with little personal property. Meals are taken by the entire colony in
a common long room.
Oneida Community, Oneida, New York (1848)
The Oneida Community practiced Communalism (in the sense of communal property
and possessions) and Mutual Criticism, where every member of the community was
subject to criticism by committee or the community as a whole, during a general
meeting. The goal was to eliminate bad character traits.
Kibbutz (1890)
A Kibbutz is an Israeli collective community. The movement
combines socialism and Zionism seeking a form of practical Labor Zionism. Choosing
communal life, and inspired by their own ideology, kibbutz members developed a
communal mode of living. The kibbutzim lasted for several generations
as utopian communities, although most became capitalist enterprises and regular
towns.
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