Not Everyone is McDonaldized: Understanding the Sustainability of the Amish Subculture in North America
Lob leid – hymn of praise – second song in church service
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish
Joseph F. Donnermeyer Professor in Rural Sociology Environmental Social Sciences Program School of Environment and Natural Resources The Ohio State University
[email protected] 010 614 292 9167
City boy No Amish background Criminologist mostly Amish as a “research hobby” Rural Sociology 5520: Amish Society I completed a county based census of the Amish for the 2010 Religious Congregational Membership Survey
Every society has within A sect is a religious it many subcultures. subculture. Example: 20 km from A subculture is a group Inverell (Danthonia), of people highly and outposts in Inverell distinctive from and Armidale, is a mainstream society, “distant cousin” of the but still part of it. Amish – Der Bruderhof
1
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish are a rural-located religious subculture that has not only sustained itself in North America, but is now flourishing.
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish are not individualistic like most American sects, but very community / collectivistic / communal oriented. In fact, their social organization and cultural practices seek to reduce individualism. For the Amish, salvation is through: 1. personal beliefs/acceptance of Jesus through baptism (adult baptism) 2. participation in the rituals/services/fellowship (i.e., practices)of the church district or group (small). 3. conforming to the will of the church group is symbolic of conforming to the will of God (gelassenheit – humility / reducing ego / submission). All religions have these same three elements: beliefs, practices, and church group
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish -- A Quick History Roman Catholic
Protestant Reformation (early 1500’s) Radical Reformation (1525) (Anabaptist) (one leader was Menno Simons)
Amish vs. Swiss Mennonites (1693) (one leader was named Jacob Ammann)
Old Order Amish vs. Progressives (1860’s)
Mostly internal divisions since 1900: (Swartzentruber/Andy Weaver [Dan] Amish – less progressive) (Old Order – mainstream, about 80 percent of all Amish) (New Order Amish – more progressive)
Two biblical quotes about separation often cited by the Amish – due to persecution in their early history (services in woods, caves…secret places)
Paul’s Letters to the Romans (12:2)
Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians II (6:14)
Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will be God.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
2
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream Church organization bench * no church building – too much like wagon more bureaucratic and overly fancy Catholic and Protestant church groups – church service rotated from residence to residence, with service every 2 weeks. **requires living close together **families in new communities must buy land within a reasonable distance
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream Church organization *ordnung – church discipline – mostly oral (some historical documents of fundamental Anabaptist beliefs reviewed twice each year (ordnungsgemee) before communion (grossgemee) *no hierarchy beyond the local church district, however, there are occasional meetings of “bishops” to discuss common issues *there are over 2,000 Amish church districts, each with their own distinctive ordnung but within the Anabaptist “umbrella” of beliefs
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream Church organization *church district – about 25 families, 125 persons *three types ordained leaders 1 bishop (volliger diener) 2 ministers (diener zum buch) 1 deacon (armendiener) *selected by lottery (Acts of the Apostles: 1, 24-26) function – a. keeps it small b. reduce individualism c. reduce inequality/social distance
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish On the one hand
On the other hand
nonconformity and separation from the world
conformity within the Amish church group
3
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream *pacificists/no military *do not participate in government assistance programs
*plain clothes/more austere homes/avoid prideful things *do not own cars/trucks (but will rent a ride/free ride)
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream
*gendered division of labour *men -- mostly self-employed in agriculture, sawmills, furniture-making etc. (manual labour) *women – homemakers, married women rarely work outside of the home
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish Subcultural symbols of separation/difference “Pennsylvania Dutch” language spoken to each other (Amish first came to America through Philadelphia and settled in eastern PA + the German word for “German” is “Deitsh” or “Deutsch”, which became pronounced as Dutch) ordnung (ott-ning) = church discipline meidung (made dung) = excommunication/shunning rumspringa (room spring a) = running around gemee (ge may) = small community hochmut (hock moot) = high people/prideful people (us)
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream
*selective use of technology, mostly avoiding electric technologies that require being attached (yoked) to a utility company. Battery powered devices and self-standing generators are preferred, plus kitchen appliances run off propane, and increasingly, solar panels.
4
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish The Amish seek to be “separate” from the mainstream *parochial schools * “one room” schoolhouse *grades 1-8 in same classroom
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish In North America today – *270,000 Amish living in 468 “settlements” (the Amish name for a community)
*exempted from compulsory education laws *between 14-15 & age of baptism (18-22) -- “rumspringa” (running around)
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish In North America today *doubling their population every 21.5 years **2 reasons (1) sustained high fertility (2) 85-90% of daughters & sons decide to be baptized baptized & remain Amish for the rest of their lives
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish In North America today – *new settlement founded every 3 weeks *of 468 today, only 178 existed in 1990
5
1970
1980
Settlement *3 or more families who live nearby each other *able to hold a church service
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
1990
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
2000
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
6
2010 Geauga/Trumbull Counties (about 15,000)
new: 1/1/11 – 31/12/12
2012 2
Elkhart/LaGrange/Noble: 1848 (about 20,000)
2
Nappanee: 1841 (about 5,500)
Lancaster/Chester Counties: 1760 (about 29,000) Berne/Adams/Jay Counties: 1850 (7,500 )
Greater Holmes County: 1808 (about 30,000)
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
3rd largest -- Elkhart / La Grange / Noble Counties, 132 church districts and over 20,000 persons
Support provided by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, with additional assistance from the Initiative in Population Research, The Ohio State University for GIS mapping, and the Heritage Historical Library in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada with library/archival resources.
Centreville, 11 church districts
Lodi-Homerville, 14 church districts
Grabill / New Haven, 19 church districts
Nappenee, 37 church districts
4th largest -- Geauga / Trumbull Counties, 103 plus church districts and about 15,000 persons
Largest – Greater Holmes County, 240+ church districts, & over 30,000 persons
state of Michigan
state of Ohio
Cleveland
* state of Penn.
Berne / Monroe / Geneva, 47 church districts
Plain City, founded 1898, now extinct
*
*
Columbus 180 km
state of Indiana
January 1, 1990 – 178 settlements December 31, 2010 – 429 settlements December 31, 2012 – 463 settlements
Cincinnati
New Wilmington, 18 church districts Bergholz, 1 church district (renegade group)
state of Kentucky state of West Virginia
Amish, Hutterites, Amish-Mennonites, Conservative Mennonites, Old Order Mennonite, Apostolic Christian Churches, Church of God in Christ Mennonite, Brethren (mostly German Baptist), and Bruderhof
7
Not Everyone is McDonaldized… The Amish Population? Number of 2020 2030 2040 2050
331,000 455,000 628,000 863,000
Settlements? 526 632 738 846
Not Everyone is McDonaldized…Amish The Amish are “modern traditionalists.” They use tradition to live a purposive, self-consciously engineered society & culture.
8
