The Hutterites in North America

Author / Creator

Janzen, Rod A

Available as

Online

Summary

"It becomes clear as one reads this book that both authors have not simply viewed Hutterite colonies but have immersed themselves in Hutterite life, visiting many different colonies and doing so re...

"It becomes clear as one reads this book that both authors have not simply viewed Hutterite colonies but have immersed themselves in Hutterite life, visiting many different colonies and doing so repeatedly. That lengthy study has opened a wealth of personal sources that would not be available to most other scholars. The book will be the new standard on Hutterites."--Timothy Miller, University of Kansas.

One of the longest-lived communal societies in North America, the Hutterites have developed multifaceted communitarian perspectives on everything from conflict resolution and decision-making practices to standards of living and care for the elderly. This compellingly written book offers a glimpse into the complex and varied lives of the nearly 500 North American Hutterite communities.

North American Hutterites today number around 50,000 and have common roots with and beliefs akin to the Amish and other Old Order Christians. This historical analysis and anthropological investigation draws on existing research, primary sources, and over 25 years of the authors' interaction with Hutterite communities to recount the group's physical and spiritual journey from its 16th-century founding in Eastern Europe and its near disappearance in Transylvania in the 176os to its late 19th-century transplantation to North America and into the modern era. It explains how the Hutterites found creative ways to manage social and economic changes over more than five centuries while holding to the principles and cultural values embedded in their faith.

Religious scholars, anthropologists, and historians of America and the Anabaptist faiths will find this objective-yet-appreciative account of the Hutterites' distinct North American culture to be a valuable and fascinating study both of the religion and of a viable alternative to modern-day capitalism. --Book Jacket.

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