Utopian socialism

Utopian socialism is the term coined by Friedrich Engels to reference socialist currents whose motivation for socialism was sought in abstract thought such as rationality and morality as opposed to a socialism based in material conditions, or a socialist theoretical expression based on the materialist method.

Utopian socialists often, but not always, articulated specific blueprints for social organization.

Engels on utopian socialism

Engels counterposed Marxism's scientific socialism, a term they used in the context of juxtaposition to utopian socialism and movements with similar characteristics. Marx argued that utopian socialism seeks for society to have to adjust itself to these abstract ideals, whereas communism is the real movement originating from the material conditions of capitalist society and the contradictions that spring from there.

Marx on utopian socialism

Marx elaborated on Engels' critique in Consequences of June 13, 1849: "While this utopian doctrinaire socialism, which subordinates the total movement to one of its stages, which puts in place of common social production the brainwork of individual pedants and, above all, in fantasy does away with the revolutionary struggle of the classes and its requirements by small conjurers' tricks or great sentimentality, while this doctrinaire socialism, which at bottom only idealizes present society, takes a picture of it without shadows, and wants to achieve its ideal athwart the realities of present society; while the proletariat surrenders this socialism to the petty bourgeoisie; while the struggle of the different socialist leaders among themselves sets forth each of the so-called systems as a pretentious adherence to one of the transit points of the social revolution as against another – the proletariat rallies more and more around revolutionary socialism, around communism".

According to Amadeo Bordiga, "communism presents itself as the transcendence of the systems of utopian socialism which seek to eliminate the faults of social organisation by instituting complete plans for a new organisation of society whose possibility of realisation was not put in relationship to the real development of history."

Utopian socialists

Charles Fourier

Charles Fourier was a social theorist from the 19th century who is sometimes (dubiously) credited for coining the word 'feminism'. He is perhaps the best known utopian socialist today, and had a large impact on social reform in the 19th and 20th century, including in the USA.

Unlike other, later socialists, Fourier idolized work, and believed work could be orgasmic if it were tailored best to each individual. He drew out long lists of social rules for sexualized, charitable, and hard working communes. The USA saw at least 300 attempts to build Fourierist communities in the 1800s, all of which failed, usually after a few years. Due to the complexity of Fourier's ruleset, the ruleset was mostly ignored, but some common principles were shared, like shared spouses and shared labor. It's important to note that the back breaking nature of manual labor back then didn't make organizing a commune all that fun, and modern technology makes such a thing a bit easier. However many Fourier's blueprints were unnecessarily detailed, and possibly not meant to be realized fully.

Fourier was a radical thinker who doubted the necessity, excellence, and permanence of civilization itself, which he called "absolute doubt". Fourier believed that civilization was becoming too much in conflict with the 'designs of nature', and was not 'harmonizing the passions' enough. He was also radically anti-traditionalist, dismissing out-of-hand the doctrines and moral teachings of all previous philosophies, what he called "absolute deviation".

Fourier believed that since Ancient Rome, two concepts immorally serve to justify repression: 1) the concept of mortal sin and 2) the fear of veneral disease.

Charles believed that involuntary celibacy deprives the role of honor from love. Fourier maintained that civilization as a whole is hostile to the concept of honor, and inspires people to rail against "genuinely liberal and charitable ideas", such as a "sexual minimum".

Fourier further believes that civilizational customs are largely driven by those who fear becoming an involuntary celibate, and project this fear through ridiculing sentimental love and ultimately rebelling against love itself. Charles believes that such a rebellion against love is inevitable in societies without a guaranteed minimum' of sexual intercourse. Fourier additionally proposed that societies should distribute the clothes of rapists as 'religious relics' to be admired (in Charles' mind) for their passion (his words).

Fourier noted that civilization is more apt to severely punish a man who steals a loaf of bread more-so than one who inflicts a famine on a million men. According to Fourier, this causes social strife, including violent social revolutions. Fourier noted that lawmakers are not only often oblivious to this, but even more oblivious to the fact that (in Charles' view) the need for sex is greater than the need for food amongst the common man.

As a conclusion to his aforementioned gripes, Fourier proposed a 'new amorous order', based on sentimentality, in which the physical impulses are 'fully satisfied'.

Robert Owen

Main article: Robert Owen

Robert Owen, a philanthropic Welsh capitalist became the owner of the cotton mill and village of New Lanark, where through his paternalistic management he abolished all punishments for his two-thousand workers, provided better housing, working hours and conditions. His experiments and successes at New Lanark lead to his great fame and establishment of the colony of New Harmony (1825-1828), which was also bought from another communistic Christian sect known as the Rappites. Following the failure of New Harmony and a scheme to get the Mexican government to cede him the provinces of Texas and Coahuila for further, large-scale utopian experiments, Robert Owen returned to Britain, where in the meantime Owenism had begun to manifest among the workers. Owenism was not created by Owen, but he was the man who provided the blueprints for it.

Étienne Cabet

Another famous utopian socialist was the Frenchman Étienne Cabet, who was born in Dijon, France in 1788. After practicing medicine and later law, he was eventually exiled to England where he associated with Robert Owen at some point in the meantime. In 1840 Cabet wrote the book Voyage en Icarie, a book describing a utopian society called "Icaria". In 1847, Cabet published an article titled Allons en Icarie! ('Let's go to Icaria!'), seeking people to go and found colonies in Texas in line with his society outlined in Voyage en Icarie. In 1848 69 peopled arrived in America. This was the first wave of Icarians. Following problems with the purchased land holdings in Texas, the Icarians moved to Nauvoo, some two thousand of them occupying the buildings once occupied by Mormons. Here they established a communal society and ate together in a common dining-room. Cabet, after being granted with temporary dictatorial powers which were later to be transferred to the community following a deterioration of the Icarians financial situation in the New World, developed an increasingly dictatorial spirit, sooning leading to a schism among the Icarian movement after requesting to be elected dictator for ten years. The majority balked at this idea, with Cabet and the minority group relocating in Cheltenham near St. Louis. Cabet, in 1856, would die soon after. Icarian Movement[edit]

Icarian Movement

Following the death of Cabet, the Icarian movement did not simply fade as one may have expected. The majority of the Icarians at Nauvoo soon moved to previously acquired government land in Adams County, Iowa in 1857, naming their settlement "Icaria". The commune was fairly poor and in debt. Though they originally possessed some 4,000 acres of land, they were forced to give up nearly half of it due to their debt. There were around sixty-six members and eleven families at Icaria. To sustain themselves they sold wool, cattle and hogs and used mills to get income. With the Civil War came a boom in crop prices and the colony become solvent by 1868.

The constitution of Icaria continued to draw from Cabet's principles. Equality and the brotherhood of mankind were foundations of this colony. All property was to be commonly owned and under the control of the assembly officers. The General Assembly consisted of all male members over twenty-one. If there is one area in which Icaria fell short, it was in providing equality to females. The officers were the president (elected annually and whose powers were strictly limited to carrying out the commands of the settlement), a secretary, treasurer and three directors for industry, agriculture and clothing. These were to be elected on the third of February. Marriage was also commanded in the constitution. All who could were obligated to marry. Marriage was contracted for life. Furthermore, the majority was to rule, servitude and servants were abolished and education was to be provided for. (Work in progress)

Edward Bellamy and the Nationalist Movement

America’s best-known and most influential utopian socialist was undoubtedly the author of the 1888 novel Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). Born in Massachusetts, Bellamy originally chose to practice law, being admitted to bar in 1871 before abandoning his career following his first case, whereupon he then became a journalist and fiction-writer.

His most famous book,Looking Backward tells the tale of the well-off Julian West, an inhabitant of 1880s Boston who, through a mishap with hypnotism, remains in a trance until he awakens in Boston in the year 2000. During his century of sleep a nonviolent social revolution occurred, completely reshaping society as he knew it in his own day. Private ownership in the means of production has been abolished along with social classes, exploitation, poverty, buying, selling, money, crime, etc. The government itself has been reduced to little more than a mechanism for coordination of industrial production and distribution. At the age of twenty-four until they are forty-five, everyone is drafted into an “industrial army”. Work has become simplified, shortened, safer and more pleasurable.

From this book, which would soon become a wild success, was born the political ideology of Nationalism (Bellamyism). Anyone familiar with Bellamy’s work will know that this ideology is not nationalistic in the modern sense at all and it is rather unfortunate that it was given such a name at all. In Looking Backward one character informs our protagonist how peaceful relations of nations are assured by a loose form of federal union of world-wide extent. An international council regulates the mutual intercourse and commerce of the members of the union. Complete autonomy within its own limits is enjoyed by every nation, but all are more or less mutually dependent on each other, with the end-goal (not yet established in the year 2000) being a single nation encompassing the entire Earth.

Bellamy first proposed Nationalism in the aftermath of the Haymarket tragedy and America’s first of many Red Scares. Nationalism was his alternative to the system of undemocratic private capital and wage-slavery. Bellamy believed that without industrial (economic) democracy, political democracy was ultimately a sham. At its root it was a radically egalitarian system of public ownership and operation of industry which soon became the leading current of American social radicalism in the 1890s, with over 165 “Bellamy Clubs” being established all across America. Utopian experiments were yet another product of Nationalism – the most notable being the Kaweah Cooperative Commonwealth in California. Bellamy’s work had an enormous influence on American socialism even beyond his death, influencing figures such as Eugene Debs.

Following Bellamy’s death in 1898, the movement was largely subsumed into the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World. Though utopian socialism was arguably killed off following 1917, Bellamyism was briefly revived during the Great Depression and remained popular in the non-Leninist left up through the 1930s and 40s.