From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Hutterites/Leo Driedger
Hutterites are the longest surviving communal society in North America. Life on Canada’s prairies has constituted for them a new golden age as evidenced by their steep population increase and their territorial expansion. Among the factors that have contributed to their continuance are their uncompromising beliefs, the comprehensive socialization of their children, the reconciliation of delinquents, biological vitality, and the ways in which they have adapted to change. A number of demographic theories have been advanced about their future.
Natural increase in the first half of the twentieth century was apparently at around 4 percent a year, but that rate seems to have fallen to about 2.5 percent by the 1990s. An increase of 4 percent would be among the highest in the world. It raises various questions. For example, will births continue at the present rate as Hutterites adopt modern technology and become more prosperous, or will they make greater use of birth control? Can they continue to find enough land to allow them to establish new colonies every fifteen to twenty years without threatening their neighbours? Further, will they have the motivation to work the land at their present pace and forego most consumer goods?
Recent research has suggested that delayed marriages and a technologically intensive mode of production, in which there is heightened competition for managerial positions, have contributed to the declining rate of growth. Birth control seems to be occurring despite the historical taboo on its use. Such developments raise the question of whether other restrictions will be broken and the role of central authority in enforcing standards diminished. If indeed birth control is increasingly occurring, the Hutterite population will grow more slowly and fewer new colonies will be established. The result will be a limit to the supervisory positions open to young males, a development that will in turn lead to dissatisfaction and more defections.
It has been suggested that natural increase at a rate of 4 percent a year puts pressures on the colonies to work hard for the next expansion. If the rate declines because of birth control, these pressures will diminish and colonies will spend more on consumer goods, developments that could affect their commitment to hard work and a frugal lifestyle. The creation of new colonies every few years allows for new positions in the Hutterite hierarchy, giving adult males a chance to head a major operation, such as hogs, cattle, chickens, or grains, or act as colony manager or minister. In this way, they acquire status, responsibility, and challenging goals. A decline in the numbers of new colonies could hamper their chance for advancement.
According to Edward Boldt (1985), the concept of “structural tightness” is crucial for Hutterite survival. Increasing the number and diversity of roles in a social system expands the range of options available to a person and therefore enhances individual choice and autonomy. By contrast, harsh socialization practices emphasize obedience and submission to authority. Hutterites tend to reduce autonomy by predetermining expectations. Continuous exposure to others, plain attire, frugal furnishings, the segregation of males and females at meals and church services, and hierarchies based on age and gender all serve to create a symbolically ordered world.
It has also been suggested that the Hutterites’ religious beliefs and communal living combine to join faith with ritual behaviour consistent with that faith. In a closed, structured environment that is spatially, religiously, socially, economically, and politically based, members are both isolated from the rest of society and integrated into the community, so that deviance is almost impossible. The emphasis on love, commitment, and service to others has as its central purpose a preparation for eternity rather than the fulfilment of individual temporal needs. Increased specialization, social differentiation, and competition also affect Hutterites, as their farm operations become more technological, industrialized, and bureaucratic. Greater exposure to the media and the English-language school system inevitably provide the young people with more options. But the stability of Hutterite life has allowed unbaptized young males to leave the community for periods of time and return to the safety of community, family, and guaranteed work.
The Hutterites have survived for nearly five centuries. They are likely to continue for a long time yet, although whether they do so in Canada depends on circumstances. Recently, the Schmiedeleut have been split between those who supported Bishop Jacob Kleinsasser and those who questioned his openness to outsiders and to change. There is ongoing debate over how tight the boundaries need to be. Legal battles over patents and a number of scandals have also threatened the stability of the community. Hutterite colonies are changing significantly in terms of the use they make of technology, and more slowly socially. It remains to be seen how they will meet the increasing challenges of modernization.
