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Though often perceived as static, Amish identity is subject to change. The mid-twentieth century was a period of notable change. The recent experience of World War II, American religious revival movements, and economic pressures all placed pressure upon Amish communities to adapt. This paper highlights the experience of the Amish community of Partridge, Kansas, where these pressures and widespread interest in mission work eventually led to a church division in the 1950s. This paper explores the contributing factors to that split and examines the reactions on both sides to the division.

This paper presents the results of a survey of college courses taught on the Amish. It is based on a series of interviews with instructors at other institutions of higher learning whose courses focus on the Amish, an examination of their syllabi, and analysis of student writing from the course I teach at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The survey was designed to ascertain the goals of professors who teach a class about the Amish and how they best achieve their course objectives. Secondly, the survey explored what attracts college students to a course about the Amish, and what prior knowledge, and preconceptions they bring with them. My survey found that all professors relate themes and values about the Amish to the lives of college students, but there are subtle differences in how these connections are expressed by instructors in the classroom through various course activities. This paper should serve as a resource for people who want to incorporate information about the Amish in their college-level courses.

Car ownership is growing in many countries. While beneficial to individuals in many cases, this trend has often resulted in significant economic, social, and environmental costs to society more generally. In researching possible solutions, one approach is to look at particular areas or communities that exhibit less reliance on the car or are even ‘car free’ to some extent, in order to see if lessons can be learned. Accordingly, this study seeks to define and characterize transport practices in Amish communities—in groups located across the United States and Canada—which for religious reasons have eschewed the car. Specifically, the paper draws on a comprehensive literature and archival review, supplemented with expert interviews, to briefly outline Amish beliefs and traditions, and then relate how these influence people’s mobility by mode, journey purpose, community, and stage of life. The study considers mobility by utilizing twelve broad mobilities as motivations, along with examples applied across six suggested stages of life. The twelve motivations considered are: migration; business / profession; discovery; medical related; military related; post-employment; trailing travel; travel across modes; travel for service work; tourist travel; visiting friends / relatives; and work / commuting. The six life stages are infancy, preschool, scholars, young people, adults, and old folks. The impacts of Amish transport are then considered with respect to society more broadly but also for each of the life stages.

This study explores the specific types of social relationships that influence initiation into and involvement in informal businesses. In particular, it examines the social capital possessed by Amish entrepreneurs who establish home-based, off-the-books tourism businesses. This paper theoretically refines social capital by identifying three dimensions of social relations: cognitive, reciprocal, and structural. I explore the relationship between social capital and Amish involvement in tourism businesses by using measures of tie strength, expected roles in one’s network, structural equivalence of network position, common culture, and religion. The results suggest that neither tie strength nor diversity alone accounts for one’s involvement in informal entrepreneurship. Rather, a combination of both strong and diverse ties is positively related to informal business involvement and success. Therefore, researchers of entrepreneurship should give attention to the multiplicity of both network tie strength and diversity.