How would work and wealth have been shared in Robert Owen’s proposed communities?

In Robert Owen’s proposed communities, work and the enjoyment of its results were intended to be shared collectively. Owen envisioned self-contained, cooperative villages—often referred to as villages of "unity and cooperation"—where residents would live and work together in harmony.12

Key aspects of his model included:

• Collective Organization: Each community was designed to house approximately 1,200 people on 1,000 to 1,500 acres of land. Residents would live in a large, square-shaped structure featuring public kitchens and messrooms, though families maintained private apartments.1
• Shared Labor and Resources: Owen argued that the competition of human labor with machinery caused distress; therefore, his system prioritized the subordination of machinery to human needs through united action. In his model, such as the New Harmony experiment in Indiana, property was commonly owned.12
• Social Amelioration: Owen believed that human character is shaped by environmental circumstances. By placing people in these cooperative settings, he aimed to provide the proper influences to foster a contented, healthy, and productive society.12

Ultimately, Owen sought to expand these individual communities into a federated network that would eventually embrace the world in a common interest.1