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

"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.