Amish Enterprise - Kraybill

Amish culture has been rooted in the soil since its beginnings in 1693. But what happens when 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? This book discusses the dramatic changes that will affect Amish communities throughout North America.;Based on interviews with more than 150 Amish entrepreneurs, the book traces the rise and impact of micro-enterprises in Lancaster's Amish settlement since the 1970s. It documents the proliferation of more than 1000 Amish-owned enterprises in the Lancaster area, some 14 percent of them boasting annual sales above $500,000. It explains why, at a time when the majority of new American business ventures fail, virtually all Amish businesses succeed, and offers insights into the cultural transformation of a plain people who are becoming increasingly entangled in the economic web of modern life.