"The People's Republic of Mirkwood": Economic subjectivity, utopian practice, and play in an intentional community

What kinds of spaces do intentional communities create? How do everyday practices and interactions shape the lives of intentional community members? What can their participation in diverse economic practices tell us about contemporary avenues for resisting or subverting capitalist norms? What kinds of subjectivities are formed in such communities? These questions are inspired by theoretical works from scholars such as Ernst Bloch, J.K. Gibson-Graham, Kathi Weeks, and Donna Haraway, but also the everyday practices of becoming in which activists and community builders engage. In this thesis, I explore Mirkwood House members’ experiences “becoming-with” as a community, engaging in diverse economic practices, and building utopian projects. I argue that these experiences reflect those of seriously playful subjects capable of long-term, enduring, dynamic experimentation and creation of other worlds, ones that make utopian projects not only possible, but pleasurable.