What is it about?
This article explores why people create intentional communities—places like communes or alternative societies—and what these efforts reveal about hope, freedom, and social change. It shows how utopian dreams emerge when everyday life feels restrictive, inspiring people to build new worlds.
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Why is it important?
This work bridges political theory and lived experience to explain how utopian thinking drives real social innovation. While most research treats utopias as fantasy, this study shows they are active laboratories of institutional change. By comparing diverse communities—from religious to countercultural—it reveals common mechanisms that help people translate imagination into durable social structures. At a time of growing disillusionment with politics, understanding how ordinary people create alternative systems offers fresh insight into democracy, dissent, and the pursuit of better worlds.
Perspectives
This article is deeply personal. As someone who studies—and often feels—life at the margins of institutions, I wanted to understand how people turn discontent into creativity. Writing it taught me that utopian thinking isn’t about perfection—it’s about persistence. Seeing this published feels like honoring all the dreamers who dared to live otherwise.
Mr. Donald Hernandezsifuentes Zárate
University of California Riverside
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From Exclusion to Utopia: A Comparative Study of Intentional Community Formation, Political Research Quarterly, October 2025, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/10659129251393665.
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