Shaker Communities

FAIN: FT-12392-75

Edward J. McGlynn
Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL 62901-4302)

To analyze a particular religious utopian movement--the United Society of Believers--from both a sociological and a humanistic perspective. Study will examine both the social factors--the organization of the sect and of the communes, the mechanisms by which members were attracted and held, the availability of alternative behaviors, the resources of the order, and other such factors commonly included in sociological analyses of social movements. Study will examine human behavior with both a social scientific and humanistic perspective.