While reading Mrs. Quinet’s packets about utopian like
societies and reforms I kept comparing these ideas to the reforms we learned
about in APUSH, especially the Shakers’. I kept thinking about how these
reforms such as communal property and polygamy didn’t work for these groups and
how Dostoevsky knew they wouldn’t work for Fourier. I went back and found my
notes to compare the utopias and thought you all would be interested in the other
utopia experiments also.
1. Many
“utopian” communities were based on the reform impulses of cooperation
and collectivism.
a.
The Shakers – Ann Lee.
i. First
established in New York in 1787
ii. Religious
imperative- refuge from sin of society
iii. Sexes
spiritually equal
iv. Abandoned
traditional family life (sister for each man)
v. No
indiv. Property
vi. Marketed
vegetables, made furniture, breed cattle for profit
b.
The Mormons – Joseph Smith and Brigham
Young. (Dictactorship)
i. Utah
(1820’s)
ii. Book
of Mormon
iii. Ancient
Hebrews à
Indians
iv. Absolute
authority
v. Church
and state together
vi. Polygamy
vii. Had
private property and accumulate wealth/ not collective
c.
Oneida – John Humphrey Noyes; “eugenics.”
(Collectivismà
communism)
i. No
traditional gender role- holy family of equals
ii. No
private property
iii. “Book
dating”
iv. can
achieve moral perfection
1.
followers=sinless
v. community
in Vermont
vi. eugenics
d.
The New England transcendentalists at Brook
Farm – Charles Fourier Nathaniel Hawthorne.
i. Manual
and intellectual labor and intellectual labor exist harmoniously
ii. Communal
living and working arrangements
iii. They
have private property
iv. Daily
timed schedules
e.
The “Owenites” –
i. Robert
Owen- british factory owner
ii. New
Lanark: factory workers
iii. Provided
housing and free public education
iv. “communitarianism”:
workers receive full fruits of their labor
v. New Harmony
vi. The Crisis: people squabbled over
constitution and property
f.
The Josiah Warren “communitarians” –
extreme individualism.
i. Anarchist
5 comments:
When Mrs. Quinet first started teaching us about Utopian Socialism I also thought back to that unit from last year. It is easy to see how Utilitarian ideas influenced the creation of these new societies such as the Shakers. They promoted equality and the importance of the greater good through collectivism and also reverting back to a much more simple life, but some of the societies are a bit more of a stretch to me. I remember learning about once society that did not allow sexual relations between member and the only way to keep then population from eventually dying out was to adopt children into the group. That does not seem to me to be as much of a parallel to Utilitarian ideas.
As we talk about Utopian Socialism, i often think about The Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games, Panem (post-revolutional US) is divided into districts and basically represents a dystopia. But as an effect of the capital's efforts to create a Utopia, many people suffer.
Now that you mention it, a lot of them are very similar. I know it was a little later, but I might also add Brook Farm to that list, just because of how similar it is to Fourier's Phalanstery. I never really got how these kinds of societies were supposed to be Utopian; if I had to work all day for the same wage as everyone else, I think I'd be pretty bored, and I certainly wouldn't have any incentive to do my job well unless I happened to actually enjoy it.
I thought of this too! Along with the Hunger Games (as Megan mentioned), I also think of the Divergent series. It's basically a utopian society that is divided into five divisions: Abnegation (the Selfless and government), Dauntless (the Brave), Amity (the Peaceful), Erudite (the Intelligent), and the Factionless. The society becomes dystopian as the factions crumble and their rigid social structures give way to complete anarchy. It's strange and interesting at the same time, but it completely dissuades the idea of the "perfect" society.
In APUSH we studied how the Puritan Separatists or pilgrims traveled to the New World because they wanted to start a utopian society. They thought England was corrupt, so they left in search of a better world. They wrote the Mayflower Compact, what would be the outline for the government of their new colony. Their idea of a utopian society was that everything would revolve around religion. It didn't work out that well in the beginning because many people died from disease and what not, but after the adjustment period was over things were pretty swell for the people at Plymouth. At least in their eyes it was. If any of us lived in Plymouth we'd probably try to swim across the ocean back to England or live with the Indians or something.
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