Gustav Landauer - From Separation to Community
Gustav Landauer, a visionary thinker, author, and advocate of a collaborative socio-economic lifestyle, left a legacy that continues to inspire the formation of modern-day intentional communities. His writings, particularly those in Revolution and Other Writings, articulate a profound philosophy of social transformation rooted in individual awakening and collective courage.
In the chapter From Separation to Community, Landauer elaborates on the necessity of breaking away from societal superficiality to form meaningful, intentional associations. His statement, “These will be new kinds of communities, established by individuals with the need and courage to separate from the dullness of superficiality,” serves as a rallying cry for those committed to eco-social communal living and loving founded on the principles and practice of “holding all things in common” – sharing all with all.
Landauer’s Vision of Community
Landauer’s understanding of community is not a simple aggregation of people. He viewed it as a dynamic, living organism – a collective bound by shared principles and practices that transcend mere coexistence. For him, the foundation of community lies in deep, authentic relationships cultivated through shared values, active participation, and mutual support. This vision starkly contrasts with the “dullness of superficiality” that pervades modern society, characterized by fragmented relationships, materialism, and disconnection.
He saw separation not as an act of isolation but as a courageous step toward renewal. By leaving behind the shallow ties of conventional society, individuals could reconnect with their authentic selves and find others who shared their longing for deeper, more purposeful living. Landauer’s “new kinds of communities” were to be incubators of transformation, where individuals could experiment with and embody principles of cooperation, solidarity, and mutual care.
From Separation to Deeply Connected Union
Landauer’s call to separate from superficiality resonates with the principles and practices of Communitarian Union. At its core, the Union’s mission is to create the eco-social conditions that enable those who are drawn to align with evolved principles to merge into complex union to collectively embody the basis of peace born of shared prosperity. Landauer’s framework makes plain the global network of communitarian union’s foundational understanding that meaningful community requires individuals to undergo a process of self-reflection, consumption and financial simplification, and intentional re-connection to the natural world.
Communitarian Union principles emphasize that functional collaborative union begins with the courage to step away from societal norms that prioritize individualism and consumption. Instead, it advocates for:
Moving from a mindset of ownership to stewardship, ensuring ‘common purse’ – pooled resources are utilized efficiently and sustainably through planned participatory governance systems based on ‘common’ wealth SHARED prosperity principles and practices.
Adopting responsible stewardship of the earth’s finite resources together with prioritizing communal well-being over individual excess.
Aligning personal resources with communal priorities to establish a common purse, facilitating shared economic security and provision. Engaging in worker owned and operated Share-holder Right Livelihood production and distribution Eco-social Enterprises to meet the collective needs of the communal unions while fostering interdependence.
Landauer’s Principles in Practice
Landauer’s philosophy serves as both a blueprint and an stimulus for communitarian practices. His writings highlight the following essential elements for building and sustaining local and regionally globally networked communitarian unions:
1. Inner Transformation as a Prerequisite for Outer Change
Landauer asserted that societal renewal begins with the individual. He argued that the superficial bonds of conventional society must be replaced by authentic connections forged through shared purpose and mutual respect. This requires individuals to undergo a personal transformation, shedding the trappings of materialism and ego.
Communitarian Practice: The Union incorporates this principle through educational initiatives, such as workshops on Gestalt Proving Personal & Group Development, Living Simply and Evolved Living Nutrition, which encourage associates to align their inner values with communal missions.
2. Voluntary Association & Mutual Aid
For Landauer, community was a voluntary union of individuals committed to supporting one another. He rejected hierarchical structures in favour of decentralized, cooperative models of organization.
Communitarian Practice: The Communitarian Union’s worker-owned cooperatives and common purse provisioning reflect Landauer’s emphasis on mutual aid and egalitarianism.
3. Living as an Act of Creation
Landauer saw the act of living in community as a form of creative expression. He argued that by living intentionally and collectively, individuals could create a microcosm of the society they wished to see.
Communitarian Practice: Through initiatives such as the Right Livelihood Permanent Agriculture Food Forests and Living Nutrition workshops, the Unions foster environments where members can co-create nurturing and healthful, sustainable evolved socio-economic, eco-aligned lifestyles.
The Courage to Withdraw from Secular Society to Enter into Complex Union
Landauer’s emphasis on recognising the need to cultivate courage – to develop the character of an eco-social warrior able to separate from a hollow existence and to step into the unknown, remains a vital message. His vision challenges communitarian associates to rethink what it means to belong. By choosing a lifestyle and love-style of Complex Union where those of like mind and ethics come together in trust born of Liberated Love – ready, willing and able to share all with all, communitarians embrace a life that is not defined by what we consume or own, but by what we contribute and create together.
Within the Communitarian Unions, this ethos is encapsulated in the concept of Deep Union. The ultimate goal of association is not just to live together, rather it is to merge into a cohesive whole where shared identity, purpose, and resources create a resilient and thriving collective. This is a profound evolution from the fragmentation Landauer lamented, to a state of interconnectedness that he championed.
From Vision to Fruition: Embracing Landauer's Call to Intentional Community
It is to be noted that Gustav Landauer’s Revolution and Other Writings is a collection of his works rather than a single book written at one time. The essays, letters, and articles included in the collection, span the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The specific essay “From Separation to Community” was published in 1909 as part of his broader effort to articulate his anarchist and communitarian philosophy. Much of the content reflects his activism and intellectual output leading up to and during the early 1900s, particularly in his role as an advocate for non-violent revolution and intentional communities.
The collection itself was compiled and translated into English long after his death, with the most recognized version edited by Gabriel Kuhn and published in 2010.
Even though the essay “From Separation to Community” was written well over a century ago, Gustav Landauer’s philosophy is as relevant today as it was when he first articulated it. From a backdrop similar to social and economic conditions faced today, Landauer urged ethically-conscious individuals to break away from superficiality to embrace the challenge of building intentional communities aligned with evolved socio-economic principles and practices such as worker-owned and operated cooperatives.
By examining his insights and integrating his principles, communitarians can take meaningful steps toward realizing the vision of a world where the constitutional right to life, liberty and happiness, achieved through social connection are not just aspirations, but lived realities. Landauer’s legacy reminds us that community is not an abstract ideal; on the contrary it must be a lived practice – a courageous journey that begins with separation and culminates in deeply supportive, stimulating and lasting union.
