The Ties That Bind: Ideology, Material Culture, and the Utopian Ideal

Abstract

Communitarian or utopian societies are ideal settings for investigating the interaction between material culture and ideology. Community members deliberately incorporated ideologies of social reform into the planning and organization of their society. Material culture served as an active medium to both reflect and reinforce utopian ideals, and community members were often keenly aware of the symbolic meanings represented in artifacts. In this way, material culture can be seen as simultaneously constituted and constitutive as well as a central focus in maintaining social cohesion. This article examines one such group, the Oneida Perfectionists, that created a socially and financially stable community that endured for more than 30 years. Their use of material culture purposefully reflected their religious ideology and functioned as a means of fostering and maintaining communitas.