Camphill and the Future: Spirituality and Disability in an Evolving Communal Movement, McKanan Dan

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.

The Camphill Movement, one of the worlds largest and most enduring networks of intentional communities, deserves greater recognition and study. Founded in Scotland in 1939, Camphill communities still thrive today, encompassing thousands of people living in more than one hundred schools, villages, and urban neighborhoods on four continents. Camphillers of all abilities share daily work, family life, and festive celebrations with one another and their neighbors. Unlike so-called utopian movements that reject mainstream society altogether, Camphill expressly seeks to be a seed of social renewal by evolving along with society to promote the full inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, who comprise nearly half of their residents. In this multifaceted exploration of Camphill, Dan McKanan traces the complexities of the movements history, envisions its possible future, and invites ongoing dialogue between the fields of disability studies and communal studies.