Alternative lifestyles

In any society there is a dominant way of life, made up of the different patterns of life of the people in that society. This is a complex structure in which the life pattern of each group affects, and is affected by, all the other groups (whether groups are considered by sex, age, education, occupation, or whatever).

The existence of this dominant way of life makes it very difficult to develop alternative ways of life within that society, although individual concern for human development means that such attempts are made. These attempts necessarily require structural change in order for them to be implemented. They are frequently means of countering mechanisms of exploitation and oppression inherent in the dominant way of life, and based on the vision of a more desirable society. Although they operate on a microsocial level, with limited possibility of influencing the macrosocial, they can and do provoke change and demonstrate alternative structural systems in action.