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Inside the Ark: The Hutterites in Canada and the United States. By Yossi Katz and John Lehr. Regina, SK: Canadian Plains Research Center Press, University of Regina, 2012. xxii + 432 pp. Notes, maps, photographs, tables, appendixes, references, index. $39.95 paper.
Geographers Yossi Katz and John Lehr's new book on the Hutterites provides an in-depth analysis of the social life of one of the four branches of the Hutterite Church in North America, the Group 2 Schmiedeleut. In many ways it is also an informative introduction to Hutterite life in general.
Katz and Lehr provide detailed explanations of virtually every aspect of Hutterite life in the province of Manitoba. This includes social and political organization at the colony and intercolony levels, religious and cultural traditions, the impact of space and how it is employed (with helpful charts and images), as well as economic structures and developments. There are also discussions about how Hutterites use leisure time and about relationships with non-Hutterites. One chapter is devoted entirely to Hutterite women. The book also deals with the "runaway" phenomenon as well as the impact of globalization and other social and economic changes on colony life and operations.
Five appendixes contain impressive material. Of the book's 430 pages, 161 are devoted to a single appendix that...