Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_(Latter_Day_Saints)

The Mormon Village community studies (conducted in three Utah “villages”: Escalante, Ephraim, and American Fork) are remembered for the conclusion that they are characterized by strong social solidarity, but that solidarity declined in the face of modernization. Recent research has found a more complex picture. Todd L. Goodsell will present findings from his work in Escalante and Ephraim over the last 20 years: In the face of social change, the bases of Mormon-Village solidarity separate into two parts: Mormon solidarity and Village solidarity. Mormonism separated from the village context becomes transhistorical and transspatial experience of faith and family. The village separated from Mormonism becomes a historical and spatial artifact. However, each may be enriched through dialogue with the other. 

Todd L. Goodsell, Ph.D., is a social researcher in the Correlation Research Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is interested in social change and community life, families, and culture. He has studied Mormon Villages (Escalante and Ephraim, Utah), for twenty years. Previous to his current position, he was on the faculty of the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and IUPUI.