Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Gilbert's account gives readers a front-row seat on the country's communal movement as he chronicles the efforts of grassroots initiatives and gives voice to the communards living and working in communes such as El Panal, El Maizal, Che Guevara, and Luisa Cáceres. He blends these firsthand accounts of communal construction with theoretical reflections and historical insights. The central story of the book is how Venezuelan communes bring people together to democratically determine their ways of living and working, thus generating a new, non-alienated social metabolism that the communes also work to extend to the whole society. Along the way, readers learn how Venezuela's communal project draws inspiration from advanced Marxist theory-including the innovative work of István Mészáros-and derives from Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelan traditions of communal self-governance"-- Provided by publisher.