"Although the cooperative community is the accepted form of rural organization in one big country, Soviet Russia, and its number is steadily increasing in several other countries, relatively little is known about it in the United States. The attempt of the Farm Security Administration, in 1937, to establish this type of settlement for the rehabilitation of low-income farmers has aroused slight interest in outside circles. The present study is undertaken to sum up the lessons offered by co-operative communities of the past and present. The work deals with two principal tasks: (1) a description of the most significant instances of cooperative living in relation to postwar planning; (2) their application to resettlement today. The historical survey will be brief. Those who wish to review the story of these communities in detail will find available extensive works of research and a number of special monographs. We shall place the greater emphasis on groups still in existence or only recently disbanded, as most relevant to our problem. We shall consider (1) the motives back of each community, with a short history of its origin; (2) the human element, membership requirements, duties and rights of members, their racial, social, and political backgrounds; (3) administration and management; (4) the degree of cooperation practiced; (5) finances, credits, expenses, and profits; (6) the approximate turnover in each community; and, finally, (7) an evaluation of advantages and drawbacks in relation to postwar resettlement"-- Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).