Spiritual and Visionary Communities provides a balanced introduction to a diverse range of communities worldwide. Focusing on communities which have had little previous academic or public attention, the authors explore a part of contemporary society that is rarely understood. Communities studied include: Israeli kibbutzim, Mandarom, the Twelve Tribes, 'The Farm' and the Camphill movement. Written from a range of perspectives, this collection includes contributions from members of the groups, former members and academic observers, and as such will offer a unique and invaluable discussion of religious and spiritual communities in the U.S., Europe and beyond.

Timothy Miller has thirty years' experience in the study of new religious movements, with a special focus on communal groups.

Introduction: Persistence Over Millennia: The Perennial Presence of Intentional Communities, Timothy Miller; Chapter 1 Damanhur: Sustaining Changes in an Intentional Community, Etta M. Madden; Chapter 2 Mandarom and the Limitations on Liberté in the Laïcité, Susan J. Palmer; Chapter 3 Henpecked to Heaven? My Life in a Brahma Kumaris Retreat Center, Neville Hodgkinson; Chapter 4 Realizing the Guru's Intention: Hungry Humans and Awkward Animals in a New Kadampa Tradition Community 1 The New Kadampa Tradition - International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU) will be shortened to NKT and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, its founder, will be called Geshe-la or Gyatso., Carol McQuire; Chapter 5 Tamera, a Model for the Future, Leila Dregger; Chapter 6 Spirituality in the Camphill Villages, Jan Martin Bang; Chapter 7 The Farm, Albert Bates; Chapter 8 A Tradition of Innovation and the Innovation of Tradition: The Cultural Developments of the Twelve Tribes Community, Torang Asadi; Chapter 9 The Family International: The Evolution of a Communal Society, Claire Borowik; Chapter 10 How Many Arks Does It Take?, Chris Coates; Chapter 11 Religious Communes in America: An Overview, Timothy Miller; Chapter 12 The Intersection of White-Racist Communes and the American Legal System, H.C. Lazebnik; Chapter 13 Communes and Kibbutzim: Towards a Comparison, Henry Near;