Who we are Forms of community life

What does it mean to live in a community? There are many definitions and connotations associated with it. At a time when it’s vital to question our lifestyles, we need to reexamine the meaning of community. How can these lifestyle choices concern us today?

Indeed, as an alternative to the majority model of society, community living encourages sharing through egalitarian projects and sobriety. As all individual resources are pooled, private property is questioned, or even abolished in some cases.

Visit Alternative communities inspired by libertarianism, utopianism, squatting, ZADs, ecovillages, grouped housing and other cooperatives are experimenting with social relationships with little or no hierarchy, free from an economic system and centered on self-management. They combine personal fulfillment, libertarian imagination and ecological awareness.

The Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewishreligious communities, in which monks and nuns are bound by solemn vows under the observance of a religious rule, lead a life of prayer and personal asceticism, withdrawn from the world or committed to serving others.

Communities of goods and knowledge, the commons, where natural, material or immaterial resources are shared, managed and maintained collectively by a community. This choice of sharing is an alternative to the commodification of the world. It allows us to radically rethink property rights.

To these community models, we can add particular languages that bring people together beyond known modes.

We invite you to discover a selection of documents in the Agora of the BCUL site Riponne and the online thematic selection. We also offer a selection of DVDs, documentaries and fiction, as well as novels.

Patricia Guenat, BCUL site Riponne

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash