Egalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with

egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decision-making is done by consensus or another system in which each person has a voice; it is not done hierarchically with only one or a few people making choices that will affect the whole group. If the group shares assets (income, vehicles, etc.), they are distributed equitably throughout the group, and each member has access to more-or-less the same resources as any other member. Egalitarian communities are a type of

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(some communal groups are not egalitarian in nature). An "egalitarian decision" is a decision made by a group as opposed to a single individual. The decision may be made by committee or elected members but still is an egalitarian decision. The

Federation of Egalitarian Communities The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) is a group of egalitarian communitiesO'Brien, EllenSome communes have survived -- and prospered -- beyond the '60s.''Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.'' 23 Sept. 1996. which have joined together wi ...

is a network of communal groups in North America with values including egalitarianism,

non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

, income-sharing and

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

See also

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