Published 2025-08-20
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Abstract
This paper is an exploration of the characteristics and qualities of renascent communities. I submit that there are environmental conditions in which people may spontaneously declare common philosophy as a reason to establish community. Some communities may experience a sudden freedom of culture due to a confluence of events, or other catalysts. Exciting events and radical philosophies may reveal a spectrum of lifestyles. From the syncopated theatre of life, ideas such as avant-garde humanism, centre-margin counterculture, and living as nature intended, emerge to become transformative social themes and frameworks for community identity development. The process of renaissance does not seem to be affected by geography or the span of time.
Three examples of communities have been chosen: Renaissance Florence, present day B.C. Gulf Islands, and San Francisco during the 1960s. In the first section, the nature of renascent communities is discussed along with liminal factors such as truth of being, social justice, and the magical qualities that sustain renascent communities. One notable evolutionary trait is the compressive effects of social justice that forge community ties. In the second section, the characteristics of each community are examined more closely. In the third section, the four phases that renaissance communities navigate are described: tradition and fermentation, awareness, action, and keeping which is the final stage before a new traditionalism appears again.
The paper may be of interest to community developers who are interested in socio-economic factors that can uplift and sustain communities. It should be noted that this study is a combination of a literature review and personal percepts.