SS Talk: Chelsea Schelly on “The Rainbow Way: Participation and Experience in Rainbow Gathering Culture”

9781612057453_p0_v1_s260x42012:00 noon on Friday, October 31 in AOB 201. 

Dr. Chelsea Schelly, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Social Sciences will be presenting on “The Rainbow Way: Participation and Experience in Rainbow Gathering Culture

Her talk is based on her recently published book, Crafting Collectivity: American Rainbow Gatherings and Alternative Forms of Community (Paradigm Publishers).

Abstract : Every summer, thousands of people assemble to live together to celebrate the Annual Gathering of the Rainbow Family. Participants establish temporary systems of water distribution and filtration, sanitation, health care, and meals provided freely to all who gather, and they develop sharing and trading systems, recreational

opportunities, and educational experiences distinct to this creative social world. The Rainbow Family has invented itself as a unique modern culture without formal organization, providing the necessities of life freely to all who attend. The Annual Gathering of the Rainbow Family has been operating for more than forty years as an

experiment in liberty that demonstrates how material or-ganization, participation, and cultural connection can reshape social relationships and transform individual lives. Grounded in sociological theory and research, the book considers what kind of culture the material systems of “Babylon” reinforce and how society could facilitate the kind of social world and human welfare humans desire.