Amish Enterprise: From Plows to Profits (Center Books in Anabaptist Studies) - Softcover

Kraybill, Professor Donald B.; Nolt, Professor Steven M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801850630 ISBN 13: 9780801850639

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995

Synopsis

"The Amish have been a people of the plow for more than three centuries. An agrarian tradition and a love for the land have shaped their distinctive faith and culture in many ways. The farm provided a crib for nurturing large families and stable marriages, a locus for work, and a haven from the vices of the larger world. This book tells the story of the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who have rather rapidly abandoned their plows for the pursuit of profit." -- from the preface Amish culture has been rooted in the soil since its beginnings in 1693. But what happens when of the members of America's oldest Amish community enter non-farm work in one generation? How will hundreds of cottage industries and micro-enterprises reshape the heart of Amish life? Will traditional eighth- grade education still prove adequate? What about gender roles, child-rearing practices, leisure activities, and growing ties with outsiders? Amish Enterprise is the first book to discuss the dramatic changes that will affect Amish communities throughout North America. Based on interviews with more than 150 Amish entrepreneurs, the authors trace the rise and impact of micro-enterprises in Lancaster's Amish settlement over the past two decades. They document the proliferation of more than a thousand Amish-owned enterprises in the Lancaster area -- some 14 percent of them boasting annual sales above $500,000. Kraybill and Nolt explain why, at a time when the majority of new American business ventures fail, virtually all Amish businesses succeed. Amish Enterprise offers surprising insights into the cultural transformation of a plain people who are becoming increasingly entangled in the economic web of modern life.

About this title

Book Description:

Amish culture has been rooted in the soil since its beginnings in 1693. But what happens when of the members of America's oldest Amish community enter non-farm work in one generation?

About the Author:

Donald B. Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor and Senior Fellow in the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. Widely recognized for his work on Anabaptist groups, he has authored and edited many books, including The Riddle of Amish Culture and The Amish and the State, both available from Johns Hopkins. Steven M. Nolt is the author of the widely acclaimed A History of the Amish and and co-author of Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0801850630
• ISBN 13: 9780801850639
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320