At Home in Nature: Modern Homesteading and Spiritual Practice in America

Rebecca Kneale Gould

Published by University of California Press 2005

At Home in Nature

Modern Homesteading and Spiritual Practice in America

Rebecca Kneale Gould

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520937864

Overview
Contents

About this book

Motivated variously by the desire to reject consumerism, to live closer to the earth, to embrace voluntary simplicity, or to discover a more spiritual path, homesteaders have made the radical decision to go "back to the land," rejecting modern culture and amenities to live self-sufficiently and in harmony with nature. Drawing from vivid firsthand accounts as well as from rich historical material, this gracefully written study of homesteading in America from the late nineteenth century to the present examines the lives and beliefs of those who have ascribed to the homesteading philosophy, placing their experiences within the broader context of the changing meanings of nature and religion in modern American culture.

Rebecca Kneale Gould investigates the lives of famous figures such as Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, Ralph Borsodi, Wendell Berry, and Helen and Scott Nearing, and she presents penetrating interviews with many contemporary homesteaders. She also considers homesteading as a form of dissent from consumer culture, as a departure from traditional religious life, and as a practice of environmental ethics.

Author / Editor information

Gould Rebecca Kneale :

Rebecca Kneale Gould is Associate Professor of Religion and Affiliate in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xxiii
A HOMESTEADING TIME LINE Publicly Available Download PDF	xxix
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 CONVERSION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2 GETTING (NOT TOO) CLOSE TO NATURE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
3 HOMEMADE RITUAL Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
INTERLUDE: INTERPRETING AMBIVALENCE Homesteading as Spiritual and Cultural Work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
4 THE REENCHANTMENT OF THE FARM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
5 SCOTT NEARING AND THE SOCIAL GOSPEL OF AGRICULTURE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
6 AMBIVALENT LEGACIES I The Dynamics of Engagement and Retreat Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
7 AMBIVALENT LEGACIES II Gender, Class, Nature, and Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
APPENDIX: OF HOES AND HUCKLEBERRIES A Note on Method Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 380

eBook

Published: October 24, 2005
ISBN: 9780520937864