THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE CATHOLIC WORKER MOVEMENT THROUGH BIOREGIONALISM By VICTORIA MACHADO A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Victoria Machado 2 To mom, dad, Tammie, and everyone at the GCW 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my family for their love, encouragement and support. I particularly want to thank my mom and my sister, Tammie. They each served as an extra set of eyes for my countless rough drafts. I would also like to show gratitude to my chair and mentor Dr. Whitney Sanford for guiding me though the thesis writing process, offering me continual feedback, and engaging my research interests. Additionally, I am grateful for such professors as Dr. David Hackett for helping the revision process as well as Dr. Anna Peterson and Dr. Manuel Vasquez for teaching classes that cultivated these ideas. Perhaps most of all, I would like to recognize the Gainesville Catholic Worker for opening their doors and exposing me to their work. Without them, none of this would be possible. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 Purpose .................................................................................................................. 12 Theoretical Approach- Why Tweed? ....................................................................... 13 Methodology- My Position ....................................................................................... 14 The Need for this Scholarship ................................................................................. 17 Overview ................................................................................................................. 18 2 HISTORY AND BIOREGIONALISM OF THE CATHOLIC WORKER ..................... 21 History ..................................................................................................................... 21 Dorothy Day ..................................................................................................... 21 Peter Maurin ..................................................................................................... 22 The Catholic Worker ......................................................................................... 24 Theological Foundations .................................................................................. 26 Maurin’s Three Themes.................................................................................... 27 Three Pillars: Cult, Culture, Cultivation ............................................................. 28 Growth and Trajectory of the Movement .......................................................... 29 “Aims and Means” of the Movement ................................................................. 30 Practice ............................................................................................................ 32 Ecumenicity of the Movement .......................................................................... 33 Pramond Parajuli’s “Ecological Ethnicity” ................................................................ 35 Sustainability ........................................................................................................... 36 Bioregionalism ........................................................................................................ 37 History .............................................................................................................. 38 Anarchy ............................................................................................................ 38 Catholic Workers and Bioregionalism ............................................................... 40 Bioregionalism and the Creation of Sustainability within the CW Movement .......... 41 Houses Today .................................................................................................. 43 The Mustard Seed ............................................................................................ 44 Sheep Ranch .................................................................................................... 44 The Alderson Hospitality House ....................................................................... 45 Silver Springs Catholic Worker ......................................................................... 45 Su Casa............................................................................................................ 46 5 Reflection ......................................................................................................... 46 3 THREE HOUSES ................................................................................................... 48 The L.A. Catholic Worker ........................................................................................ 48 Gainesville Catholic Worker .................................................................................... 52 Resistance ........................................................................................................ 63 Lifestyle ............................................................................................................ 64 Local Food ........................................................................................................ 65 Houston Catholic Worker ........................................................................................ 66 Nonprofit ........................................................................................................... 67 Reflections ........................................................................................................ 68 4 RELIGION AND GEOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 74 Position ................................................................................................................... 74 Tweed on Position ............................................................................................ 74 Resistance ........................................................................................................ 76 Movement and Relation among Regions ................................................................ 78 Dwelling .................................................................................................................. 80 Fluidity .................................................................................................................... 85 Crossing .................................................................................................................. 86 Publications as Crossings ................................................................................ 88 Corporeal Crossing .......................................................................................... 90 Cosmic Crossing .............................................................................................. 91 Spiritual Activity as Crossings .......................................................................... 92 5 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 97 Blind Spots .............................................................................................................. 97 Gaps in Research ................................................................................................... 98 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 99 Future Discussion ................................................................................................. 101 Benefits- Education ............................................................................................... 102 Benefits-Organizational Sharing ........................................................................... 102 APPENDIX: NONPROFIT PERSPECTIVE ................................................................. 104 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 106 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 110 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Comparison of three case studies. ..................................................................... 73 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 2-1 Founders of the Catholic Worker Movement ...................................................... 47 2-2 A picture expressing the Works of Mercy, labeled the “Works of Peace”. .......... 47 3-1 The L.A. Catholic Worker’s Hippie Kitchen. ........................................................ 69 3-2 One of the LACW’s shopping carts. .................................................................... 69 3-3 The Gainesville Catholic Worker’s current location. ..........................................