Utopias: A Brief History from Ancient Writings to Virtual Communities

299 Pages·2012·1.539 MB·English

by  Howard P. Segal(auth.)

Utopias
WILEY-BLACKWELL BRIEF HISTORIES OF RELIGION SERIES
Thisseriesoffersbrief,accessible,andlivelyaccountsofkeytopics
withintheologyandreligion.Eachvolumepresentsbothacademic
and general readers with a selected history of topics which have
had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The word
‘‘history’’ is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural and
social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship but
they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood by
general readers.
Other topicsin the series:
Published
Heaven AlisterE.McGrath
Heresy G.R.Evans
Death DouglasJ.Davies
Saints LawrenceS.Cunningham
Christianity CarterLindberg
Dante PeterS.Hawkins
Spirituality PhilipSheldrake
CultsandNewReligions DouglasE.CowanandDavidG.Bromley
Love CarterLindberg
ChristianMission DanaL.Robert
ChristianEthics MichaelBanner
Jesus W.BarnesTatum
Shinto JohnBreenandMarkTeeuwen
Paul RobertPaulSeesengood
Apocalypse MarthaHimmelfarb
Islam2ndEdition TamaraSonn
TheReformation KennethG.Appold
Utopias
A Brief History from Ancient
Writings to Virtual Communities
Howard P. Segal
Thiseditionfirstpublished2012
(cid:1)2012HowardP.Segal
BlackwellPublishingwasacquiredbyJohnWiley&SonsinFebruary2007.Blackwell’s
publishingprogramhasbeenmergedwithWiley’sglobalScientific,Technical,andMedical
businesstoformWiley-Blackwell.
RegisteredOffice
JohnWiley&SonsLtd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,
PO198SQ,UK
EditorialOffices
350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA
9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK
TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK
Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservices,andforinformation
abouthowtoapplyforpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookplease
seeourwebsiteatwww.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.
TherightofHowardP.Segaltobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedin
accordancewiththeUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording
orotherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,without
thepriorpermissionofthepublisher.
Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsin
printmaynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks.
Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedastrademarks.
Allbrandnamesandproductnamesusedinthisbookaretradenames,servicemarks,
trademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.Thepublisherisnotassociated
withanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook.Thispublicationisdesignedtoprovide
accurateandauthoritativeinformationinregardtothesubjectmattercovered.Itissoldonthe
understandingthatthepublisherisnotengagedinrenderingprofessionalservices.If
professionaladviceorotherexpertassistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetent
professionalshouldbesought.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Segal,HowardP.
Utopias:abriefhistoryfromancientwritingstovirtualcommunities/HowardP.Segal.
pagescm– (Blackwellbriefhistoriesofreligion;44)
ISBN978-1-4051-8328-4(pbk.)–ISBN978-1-4051-8329-1(hardcover)
1. Utopias–History. I. Title.
HX806.S362012
335.8’3–dc23 2011049094
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
Setin10/12.5ptMeridienbyThomsonDigital,Noida,India
1 2012
For my wife, Deborah D. Rogers,
for our children, Richard William Rogers Segal
and Raechel Maya Rogers Segal,
and for our beloved shih-tzu, Toms
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 The Nature of Utopias 5
Utopias Defined 5
Utopias Differ from both Millenarian Movements
and Science Fiction 8
Utopias’ Spiritual Qualities are Akin to those
of Formal Religions 9
Utopias’ Real Goal: Not Prediction of the Future
but Improvementof the Present 12
How and When Utopias are Expected to be Established 13
2 The Varietyof Utopias 16
The Global Nature ofUtopias: Utopias arePredominantly
but not ExclusivelyWestern 16
The Several Genres of Utopianism:Propheciesand
Oratory, Political Movements,Communities,
Writings,World’s Fairs, Cyberspace 24
3 The EuropeanUtopias and Utopiansand
Their Critics 47
The PioneeringEuropean Visionaries and TheirBasic
Beliefs: Plato’s Republic and More’sUtopia 47
Forgingthe Connections Between Science,
Technology,and Utopia 50
The Pansophists 53
The Prophets ofProgress: Condorcet, Saint-Simon,
and Comte 55
Dissenters fromthe Ideology of Unadulterated Scientific
and Technological Progress:ThomasCarlyle,John
Ruskin, and William Morris 58
The Expansive Visions of Robert Owen and Charles
Fourier 60
The “Scientific”Socialismof KarlMarx and Friedrich
Engels 66
4 The American Utopias andUtopians and
Their Critics 74
America asUtopia: Potential and Fulfillment 74
The PioneeringAmerican Visionaries and theirBasic
Beliefsin Americaas Land of Opportunity: John
Adolphus Etzler,ThomasEwbank, and Mary Griffith 78
America as“Second Creation”:Enthusiasm
and Disillusionment 81
5 GrowingExpectationsofRealizingUtopiainthe
UnitedStatesandEurope 89
LaterAmerican Technological Utopians:John Macnie
Through HaroldLoeb 89
UtopiaWithin Sight: The AmericanTechnocracy Crusade 96
UtopiaWithin Reach: “The Bestand the
Brightest”—Post-WorldWar IIScience and
TechnologyPolicy inthe United States and Western
Europe and the Triumph of the Social Sciences 99
On MisreadingFrankenstein: How Scientific and
Technological Advances have Changed Traditional
Criticisms of Utopianism in the Twentiethand
Twenty-First Centuries 123
viii TableofContents
6 UtopiaReconsidered 139
The Growing Retreat from Space Exploration
and Other Megaprojects 139
NuclearPower: Its Rise, Fall,andPossible
Revival—MaineYankeeas a Case Study 142
The Declining Belief inInventors,Engineers,and
Scientists asHeroes; inExperts as Unbiased;
and inScienceand Technologyas Social Panaceas 157
ContemporaryProphets for Profit: The Rise and Partial
Fallof Professional Forecasters 160
Post-colonialCritiques of Western Science and
Technologyas Measuresof “Progress” 169
7 The Resurgence ofUtopianism 186
The Major ContemporaryUtopians and Their
Basic Beliefs 186
SocialMedia:Utopiaat One’sFingertips 193
RecentandContemporaryUtopianCommunities 194
The StarTrek Empire:ScienceFictionBecomesLess
Escapist 199
Edutopia: GeorgeLucasand Others 203
The Fateof Books and Newspapers:Utopian and
Dystopian Aspirations 217
8 The Future of Utopias andUtopianism 234
The “Scientific and Technological Plateau” and the
Redefinition of Progress 234
Conclusion:Why UtopiaStill MattersTodayand
Tomorrow 241
Further Reading 261
Index 269
TableofContents ix
Preface
I have long found serious, thoughtful utopias and utopians to
be fascinating, important, and deserving of respect and inquiry.
Iremainintriguedbywhatutopiasandutopianstellusaboutthe
societies from which they derive and about how those societies
might be changed, for better or for worse. In effect, utopianism
functionslikeamicroscope:byfirstisolatingandthenmagnifying
aspectsofexisting,non-utopiansocietiesallegedlyneedingdrastic
improvements, it enables us to see more clearly their political,
economic, cultural,and psychological mainstreams.
Somestudentsofutopiascometothetopicbywayofpersonal
experiences,suchastimespenteitherlivinginautopiancommu-
nity or trying to perfect the world through political or social
movements. In the interest of ‘‘full disclosure,’’ let me concede
withoutanyapologiesthat,bycontrast,myinterestinutopiasis
largely scholarly.Ihave neverheldanypassionatebeliefs inany
remotelyutopianprojects,havenevercomposedanysupposedly
utopian manifestoes or other visionary writings,and have never
spent time in any self-proclaimed utopian communities or
crusades.Iambynatureskeptical—ifnotcynical—aboutvisions
andvisionariesthat claim moralandperhapsintellectualsuperi-
ority over everything and everyone else.I cannotimagine being
seducedbyanyutopiandreamorprophet.YetIremainfascinated
bythosewhohavebeensoseducedandbythemanifestationsof
their seductions.
AsIwascompletingthisbook, Ihappenedtoreceivefrommy
institution’sEmployeeAssistanceProgram—thatis,itscounseling
service—a four-page pamphlet distributed to all employees
entitled ‘‘Perfectionism: Too Much of a Good Thing.’’ The timing
was ironic. These pamphlets on various topics appear every
few months, and the intention—to alert employees to various
issuesthatmightconfrontthem,theirfamilies,andtheirfriends—
is certainly noble. Though hardly surprised by the uniformly
negative tone of this critique of ‘‘perfectionism,’’ I was reminded
of the generally unsympathetic reactions of many others over
the years as I studied, wrote about, and presented papers on
various aspects of utopianism. Since my Princeton graduate-
school days, when I was contemplating writing my doctoral
dissertation on some aspect of utopianism, far more often than
notIhaveencounteredanimplicitifnotexplicitsenseofanxiety
thatmykeeninterestinthetopicmightwellreflectsomekindof
pathology.
As set forth in the pamphlet and in countless earlier warnings
from other mental health experts, the quest for ‘‘unreasonable
standards’’ of whatever variety for either oneself or others can
‘‘wasteenormousamountsoftime’’betterspentonmorepleasant
pursuits. One finds nothing in defense of the idealism likewise
associatedthroughouthistorywith‘‘perfectionism.’’1But,WhileI
cannotrefutethepamphlet’slistoftheharmfuleffectsof‘‘perfec-
tionism’’—anxiety, misplaced anger, depression, obsessive com-
pulsive disorders, eating disorders, chronic pain, and
procrastination—what of the healthy and positive efforts to im-
prove the world that have characterized the foremost utopian
projectsandtheircreators?Oneneednotembracetheirsometimes
na€ıve,misguidedschemestobemorebalancedinassessingutopias
and utopians throughouthistory. Their refusal toaccept existing
values,customs,institutions,andpoliciesisoftenadmirableifnot
courageous. True, this book is not a formal moral assessment as
such,butitdoesattempttotreatutopiasandutopians—andtheir
critics—with fairness and respect.
In researching and writing this book I was greatly assisted by
SamaraGopan,ofBangor,Maine;byUniversityofMainehistory
majorJasonPote;byMeloraNorman,LibrarianofUnityCollege
xii Preface