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This article is about political system known as communalism. For South Asian sectarian ideologies, see Communalism (South Asia).

Communalism usually refers to a system that integrates communal ownership and federations of highly localised independent communities. A prominent libertarian socialist, Murray Bookchin, defines communalism as "a theory of government or a system of government in which independent communes participate in a federation", as well as "the principles and practice of communal ownership".[1][2]

This usage of communalism appears to have emerged during the late 20th century to distinguish commune-based systems from other political movements and/or governments espousing (if not actually practicing) similar ideas. In particular, earlier communities and movements advocating such practices that were often described as "anarchist", "socialist" and/or "communist".[3]

Many historical communities practicing utopian socialism or anarchist communism did implement internal rules of communalist property ownership in the context of federated communalism. It is at least theoretically possible for a federation of communes to include communes which do not practice communalist rules of property, which is to say, that the overall national government may be a federation of communes, but that private property rather than communalist property is the order within each such commune. Karl Marx, often viewed as the founder of modern communism, criticized older forms, including primitive communism and/or utopian socialism, as poorly conceived and/or prone to disintegration in practise.[4]

Communalism in the form described above is distinct from the predominant usage in South Asian forms of English: allegiance to a particular ethnic and/or religious group rather than to a broader society.[5][6] As such, this usage is synonymous with sectarianism and associated with communal violence.


Communalism in Christianity[edit]

In this primarily religious-based community, the communist-like principle of Koinonia used by the early Christian Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles (4:32–35), which expressed the broad, general principle of "all things in common" (or, in some translations, "everything in common").

Communalistic tendencies were often present in radical Reformation-era Christian movements in Europe. (This was later argued most famously by the Marxian theorist Karl Kautsky: see, for example, Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation .[7])






All of these post-Reformation attempts were led by biblical literalism in which they referred to previously mentioned passages from the Book of Acts. Radicalism of their social experiments was further heightened by Chiliasm and ardent expectation of Theocracy.

The Plymouth Colony was established by Separatist Pilgrims who had travelled from Europe in order to flee religious persecution and establish a religious community separate from the Church of England. The social and legal systems of the colony were tied to their religious beliefs as well as English Common Law. The presence of secular planters ("The Strangers") hired by the London merchant investors who funded their venture led to tension and factionalization in the fledgling settlement, especially because of the policies of land use and profit-sharing, but also in the way each group viewed workdays and holidays. This form of common ownership was the basis for the contract agreed upon by the venture and its investors. It was more akin to what we now think of as a privately held corporation, as the common ownership of property and profits was insured by the issuing of stock to the settlers and investors. It was also temporary, with a division of the common property and profits scheduled to take place after seven years.




The Latter Day Saint movement[edit]

In the 19th century the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints[10] attempted to live a form of Christian communalism called the Law of Consecration, using organizations described as the United Order. This was established under Joseph Smith[11] and was first practiced in Kirtland, Ohio in the early 1830s. This originally helped Latter Day Saints with settling in Ohio and was to have helped with building and sustaining entire communities in Missouri, including Independence, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and Far West. Subsequent events, including the 1838 Mormon War, made it impossible for these communities to thrive.


After the followers of Brigham Young settled in the Utah Territory, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) began to establish a series of community cooperatives, which were collectively called the United Order of Enoch. This program was used in at least 200 LDS communities, most of them in outlying rural areas, away from the central Mormon settlements. Most of the cooperatives lasted for only two or three years before returning to a more standard economic system. One of the last United Order cooperatives was located in Orderville, which continued until an 1885 anti-polygamy law enforcement action under the Edmunds Act effectively ended it by jailing many of its leaders.

The Law of Consecration (as expressed via the LDS Church) was an attempt to base income on a families' actual needs and wants, not on their ability to produce. This was to be done through a strictly voluntary covenant; it was not deemed acceptable to establish economic equality through force (see also Agency (LDS Church)). The LDS church has never called this practice communism, instead it has formally stated that, due to matters of spirituality, the United Order and communism are materially opposite in purpose:

"Communism and all other similar isms bear no relationship whatever to the United Order. They are merely the clumsy counterfeits which Satan always devises of the Gospel plan [...]. The United Order leaves every man free to choose his own religion as his conscience directs. Communism destroys man's God-given free agency; the United Order glorifies it. Latter-day Saints cannot be true to their faith and lend aid, encouragement, or sympathy to any of these false philosophies [...]." (Message of the First Presidency, read by J. Reuben Clark Jr., 112th Annual General Conference, April 6, 1942.)

The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)[edit]

The Church of Jesus Christ, also known as the Cutlerites, are a church in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Alpheus Cutler and headquartered in Independence, Missouri. It has operated a functioning United Order since 1913. The Church of Jesus Christ require membership in the United Order as a condition of membership in the church as The Church of Jesus Christ has reject tithing and all similar means of finance. They state that they are attempting to replicate, as far as possible, the idea of "all things common" as taught in the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Secular communalist movements[edit]




This primary method used to achieve this is called libertarian municipalism which involves the establishment of face-to-face democratic institutions which are to grow and expand confederally with the goal of eventually replacing the nation-state. Unlike anarchists, Communalists are not opposed in principle to taking part in electoral politics – specifically municipal elections – as long as candidates are libertarian socialist and anti-statist in policy.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition,1998, New York
  2. ^ What is Communalism? The Democratic Dimension of Anarchism by Murray Bookchin
  3. ^ See, for example, the following entries in the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia: Ryan, J.A. (1908); "Communism" and Ryan, J.A. (1912). "Socialistic Communities" (Access date: 12 September 2014).
  4. ^ The Collected Works of Karl Marx, Moscow,[full citation needed]
  5. ^ RH Webster
  6. ^
  10. ^ This organization was called the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" at this time; other official names were Church of Christ (1829-1834), Church of the Latter Day Saints (1834-1838), then the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" in 1838. Today, multiple groups claim to be the continuation or successor of Smith's original church, the largest of which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City, Utah; see Latter Day Saint movement and List of sects in the Latter Day Saint movement.
  11. ^ Section 42
  12. ^ Gonzalo J. Sánchez, Organizing independence: the artists federation of the Paris Commune and its ...[full citation needed]

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