Islands of the Good Life: Ecotopian experiments in rural Romania

This thesis represents an anthropological engagement with the question of what a good life can mean in the context of the Anthropocene. The potential paths toward a fulfilling, ethical, and sustainable way of life analyzed here are guided by the concept of ecotopia and by the ethics and practice of permaculture. The ethnographic basis of this thesis consists of work with permaculture practitioners in rural Romania, people who have migrated from urban to rural settings in pursuit of an alternative way of life. This effort aligns with the category of the anthropology of the good, while also being informed by environmental anthropology, development studies, rural studies, and critical design studies. It seeks to outline some of the factors that contribute to dissatisfaction with conventional urban life, to explore how ecotopian permacultural practices are articulated in rural Romania, what challenges they face in establishing themselves in this space, and what their potential is to provide a model for a more ethical way of life, as potential islands of change that might cohere into a particular transition vision toward a sustainable future.