Search For Community: From Utopia to a Co-operative Society

The Search for Community offers a fascinating look at co-operative forms as diverse as the kibbutzim in Israel, the Kolkhoz of the Soviet Union, the Basque co-ops in Spain, and the Hutterite communities of Western Canada, among many others. The achievements and failures of the various co-ops- whether religious, nationalist, cultural, social, or economic in basis- are assessed with a view to extracting those features which would best meet the needs of a modern Western community in search of equality and meaning. Melnyk’s vision of such a social co-operative would draw into a unified community the various workers, housing, consumer, and service co-ops which presently exist. Using his extensive knowledge of developments on the international scene, he points out the creative possibilities inherent in a society of true co-operation. George Melnyk, who lives in Canada, was raised in Winnipeg and educated at the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto. He has written two previous books, Of the Spirit: the Writings of Douglas Cardinal and Radical Regionalism.