People of the rainbow
Subtitle: a nomadic utopia
By: Michael I. Niman.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 274
Subjects: Rainbow Family of Living Light; Utopias -- History -- 20th century; Nonviolence -- History -- 20th century; Social history -- 1970-
Other titles: Rainbow
Description: Since 1972, the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a loosely organized and anarchistic nomadic community, has been holding large gatherings in remote forests to pray for world peace and create a model of a functioning utopian society. In People of the Rainbow, Michael I. Niman offers the first comprehensive study of this countercultural group, also known as the Rainbow Nation or Rainbow Family.

Niman's insightful and compelling profile describes the origins and recent history of the Rainbows and explains the eclectic philosophy of environmentalism, feminism, peace activism, group sharing, libertarianism, and consensus government they espouse.

A fictional re-creation of a day in the life of a Rainbow character named Sunflower begins the book, illustrating events that might typically occur at an annual North American Rainbow Gathering. Using interviews with Rainbows, content analysis of media reports, participant observation, and scrutiny of government documents relating to the group, Niman presents a complex picture of the Family and its relationship to mainstream culture - called "Babylon" by the Rainbows.

Niman also looks at internal contradictions within the Family and examines members' problematic relationship with Native Americans, whose culture and spiritual beliefs they have appropriated.

The nomadic nature of the Rainbow Family has long exasperated the U.S. government - especially the Forest Service - and has baffled the media. Niman places the Rainbow Family's gatherings in a historical context by framing the group's activities in terms of the long tradition of intentional communities and utopian experimentation within the United States.

Concluding with reflections on the successes and limitations of the Rainbow movement, People of the Rainbow provides an extensive ethnography of this intriguing subculture as well as fresh insights into the ongoing legacy of utopian communalism.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-266) and index.
Table of contents: title: Sunflower's day : July 3; title: Roots, rock, rainbow; title: "The way we make decisions is more important than the decisions we make" : the Rainbow Family Council; title: The nuts and bolts of making a rainbow : rainbow infrastructure; title: People of the rainbow; title: Violence and peace; title: Fakelore; title: The mediated rainbow : the American media look at the rainbow family; title: Leave only smiles : land stewardship and community relations; title: The rainbow and the U.S. government; title: Conclusion : endless summer.