Ebook: West of Eden: communes and utopia in northern California

"In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, a large portion of the population had become disenchanted with the American way of life that they did not feel they belonged to. While some openly revolted in the streets, others took to turning away from the mainstream and headed toward a new world. Utopian visions, manifesting themselves in the form of communes, were aimed at breaking the bonds of capitalism, big business, and the reigning oligarchy and were popping up throughout the country. The San Francisco Bay Area was the hotbed of these communes, and from the Height-Ashbury in San Francisco, east to Berkeley's protest hub at Sproul Plaza, and south to Oakland's Black Panther's communal households, this is an exploration of this unique cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. The history and vision of communal living is investigated in a series of essays aimed at explaining just what these communes were, how lives were lived within them, and what their goals entailed"--Provided by publisher.;pt. I. Context. California communes : a venerable tradition / by Timothy Miller -- Conviviality and perspicacity : evaluating 1960s communitarianism / by Michael William Doyle -- The counterculture as commons : the ecology of community in the Bay Area / by Jeff Lustig -- The commune as badlands as utopia as autonomous zone / by Jesse Drew -- pt. II. The city. Bulldozers in utopia : open land, outlaw territory, and the code wars / by Felicity D. Scott -- The dome and the shack : the dialectics of hippie enlightenment / by Simon Sadler -- Occupied Alcatraz : native American community and activism / by Janferie Stone -- Communialism and the Black Panther party in Oakland, California / by Robyn C. Spencer -- Magus of the counterculture : Ramón Sender talks with Iain Boal -- pt. III. The country. The Albion nation : communes on the Mendocino Coast / by Cal Winslow -- Our bodies, our communal selves / by Janferie Stone -- pt. IV. Legacies. Green gold and the American way / by Ray Raphael -- Counterculture, cyberculture, and the third culture : reinventing civilization, then and now / by Lee Worden -- Caught on the hop of history : communes and communards on the canvas of '68 / by Michael Watts -- Epilogue / by Cal Winslow.