Dwelling in Resistance

Living with Alternative Technologies in America

By Chelsea Schelly

SERIES: Nature, Society, and Culture

Rutgers University Press

Most Americans take for granted much of what is materially involved in the daily rituals of dwelling. In Dwelling in Resistance, Chelsea Schelly examines four alternative U.S. communities—“The Farm,” “Twin Oaks,” “Dancing Rabbit,” and “Earthships”—where electricity, water, heat, waste, food, and transportation practices differ markedly from those of the vast majority of Americans.

Schelly portrays a wide range of residential living alternatives utilizing renewable, small-scale, de-centralized technologies. These technologies considerably change how individuals and communities interact with the material world, their natural environment, and one another. Using in depth interviews and compelling ethnographic observations, the book offers an insightful look at different communities’ practices and principles and their successful endeavors in sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Dwelling in Resistance accomplishes the difficult task of being extremely informative and intellectual while at the same time remaining down to earth, lively, and amusing. Schelly provides a welcome addition to the literature on social practices, technology studies, and community studies in this engaging work. Debbie Kasper, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology, Hiram College

This theoretically and empirically rich book illuminates technological systems that are often invisible, yet fundamentally shape everyday practices and ideas. In showing us how people live with alternative technologies, Schelly also generates deep insights into those who do not. John M. Meyer, author of Engaging the Everyday: Environmental Social Criticism and the Resonance Dilemma

New Books Network interview with Chelsea Schelly New Books Network

CHELSEA SCHELLY is an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. She is the author of Crafting Collectivity: American Rainbow Gatherings and Alternative Forms of Community.

1 What Does it Mean to Dwell in Resistance?
2 What “Normal” Dwelling Looks Like: The History of Home Technologies
3 Custodians of the Earth, Witnesses to Transition: The Story of the Farm
4 The Abundance of the Commons: Twin Oaks and the Plentitude Ethic
5 Individualism and Symbiosis: The Dance at Dancing Rabbit
6 Self-Sufficiency as Social Justice: The Case of Earthship Biotecture
7 Dwelling in Resistance

Appendix: Reflections and Lessons on Method
Acknowledgements
References
Index

Related Titles