Solar panels, shovels and the 'Net: Selective uses of technology in the homesteading movement

Abstract

Although the dystopian and utopian academic literature on technology present either a pessimistic or optimistic picture of its societal impact, people's everyday uses of technology often counter such views. This paper examines the selective uses of technology, and particularly communications technology, in the everyday practices of homesteaders, or members of the ‘back to the land’ movement in Bloomington, Indiana, USA. Using an ethnographic approach, this study analyzes how homesteaders' ideology of voluntary simplicity informs their complex, everyday engagement with technology.

Keywords:

• technology
• utopian
• dystopian
• voluntary simplicity
• Luddite

Notes

1. Homesteading is continually expanding. When Jacob (1997) began his pilot homesteading study in 1981, he estimated that several million people nationwide had adopted homesteading. It waned during the 1980s, but the early 1990s' recession revived some people's search for rural ‘recessionary and psychological security’ (Jacob 1997, p. 3).

2. This study refers to respondents using pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teresa Heinz Housel

Teresa Heinz Housel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Hope College, Holland, MI. Her teaching and research intersect the areas of journalism, communication theory, and media and cultural studies.