phalange

…associations of producers known as phalanges (phalanxes). His system came to be known as Fourierism.

…a number of communal groups—phalanxes—were established. The best known was Brook Farm (q.v.), near Boston, founded by George Ripley in 1841. Brook Farm lasted until 1847, but the average duration of the nearly 50 other phalanxes in the United States was just two years.

Such a “phalanstery,” as he called it, would be a largely self-sufficient community of about 1,600 people organized according to the principle of “attractive labour,” which holds that people will work voluntarily and happily if their work engages their talents and interests. All tasks become tiresome at…