1 - Utopians and Utopian Thought

Summary

UTOPIAN THOUGHT HAS a long tradition and has for centuries been both feted and condemned. While the literary manifestations of utopian thinking will be discussed as the third tributary, the visioning of ideal societies (political and social utopias) has escaped its merely literary confines and has provided blueprints for humanity's noblest aspirations (the United Nations, the European Union), as well as its vilest ideologies (fascism, National Socialism). “Being human means having a utopia” declared German theologian Paul Tillich, but we do not always wear this characteristic with pride. Politicians and the media use the term “utopian” to denigrate ideas and proposals for change; and in everyday parlance the term suggests impossible schemes, pipe dreams, and harebrained projects. And yet, despite this, a certain type of person will vehemently defend the right to imagine the world differently, and work to radically change it accordingly. There are “utopians” who plan better, if not ideal, worlds at their desks, and there are those who actively fight for them in the public arena in the attempt to turn them into a lived reality. And there are those who are fascinated by the idea of utopianism, and who study its history and manifestations. The political and social utopias they advocate or study tend to share a holistic perspective, and they are ostensibly oriented toward “happiness.” But what makes people happy depends on context and an individual's perspective. In the 1970s, Frank and Fritzie Manuel laid the groundwork for a systematic study of utopias and utopian thought, and they wrote about the “thinkers and dreamers” who envisaged an ideal social order. As Dan Chodorkoff points out, the focus on the individuals who conceived of utopias was key for their generation of researchers:

Philosophical and literary utopias are the work of individuals and as such tend to reflect their creators’ likes and dislikes. These idiosyncratic approaches have given rise to the cliché that “One man's utopia is another man's hell.”

Sociologists often speak of a “utopian impulse” that drives individuals and groups to envision better worlds and push for their realization when reality becomes unbearable:

The utopian impulse is a response to existing social conditions and an attempt to transcend or transform those conditions to achieve an ideal. It always contains two interrelated elements: a critique of existing conditions and a vision or reconstructive program for a new society.