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Abstract
Excerpts: In the fall of 1949 there came into rural Bavaria an innovation which is revolutionizing the duties of Bavarian farm women – long accustomed to limited means, hard work and inadequate equipment. This innovation was the establishment in small rural villages of women’s community centers equipped with the latest in household labor-saving devices. The innovation has struck a responsive chord in rural Bavarian life. From the very beginning the community center movement has developed rapidly. Traditional ways of doing things are not easy to change, yet, in this program they have been changed with relative ease. How does it happen that this movement has been so successful? What does it mean to the Bavarian farm family? Does it hold promise for peasant women in other lands? What lessons can social engineers draw from experience here? To find the answers to these questions we must start with the Bavarian farm family and its way of life.