Dreaming of Perfect Worlds
Looking Forward: Thinking About Utopia in the 21st Century
The concept of utopia is a useful frame for considering political and social questions from a modern perspective. The article suggests a possible approach.
John Carey, in the Faber Book of Utopias (2000), defines utopias as “imaginary good places.” Even before Thomas More coined the word in 1516, people have conjured up images of perfect worlds. What’s the value of doing this and how would one go about thinking about utopia today?
As a framework for considering big questions, you can’t beat utopia. How should people relate to each other and to the planet? What is the best balance between creativity and order? Thinking about these things in a positive, “looking forward” way has historically been an antidote to the negative thinking that can arise from unsettled times.
If you are thinking of the perfect world from where we sit in the 21st century, here are some of the things you might want to consider.
People: In Edward Bellamy’s famous novel Looking Backward 2000-1887, the protagonist Julian West goes to sleep in 1887 and wakes up in a bright, shiny Boston in the year 2000. When he is shown a rooftop view of the city, Julian is struck by “public buildings of a colossal size” and “large open squares filled with trees”, but does not mention people. Symbolically, all the “people problems”—industrial strife, crime—have gone away.
Utopias through history have assumed that all people are good and kind, or devised sometimes macabre methods for eliminating or banishing “bad elements.” A question for the 21st century is whether there are new ways of thinking about this issue. For example, in a world made small by globalisation, could utopia be based on diversity—an acceptance of differences between people—rather than sameness? Or does globalisation mean we are all, anyhow, increasingly the same?
Economic Relations: Bellamy’s work was critical of capitalism and his perfect world was a socialised nation state, with work and many other aspects of life centrally controlled. In considering these questions, you could ask yourself—what is the nature of work? How should it be rewarded? Of course there is no right answer, but it’s an easy way in to some thorny political and social issues.
People in Julian West’s Boston in 2000 were still very interested in shopping, although all the goods were owned by the state. In fact, a department store is depicted as “a vast hall of light” and was such a powerful symbol in Bellamy’s time that the Bradbury building, built in 1893, was designed to capture that “sacred” place. With our 21st-century interest in sustainability, how important would being a consumer be to your utopia?
Integration versus separateness: Utopian communities in most parts of the world have been built away from the larger society. For example, there are in many countries “intentional communities” where people have assembled to live according to particular values or beliefs (such as Amish and Mennonite settlements, and eco-villages in rural areas).
An historical example in New Zealand was the community of New Jerusalem established by the Maori prophet Rua Kenana in 1907. According to an article by Rangi McGarvey in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Kenana promoted trade and agriculture in his community and experimented with banking and mining. However, Kenana was not trusted by the colonial state and the community was invaded by police in 1916, never quite recovering afterwards.
The question is, how would your utopia co-exist with the broader community? Or would they be perfectly integrated?
Carey comments that “utopia is where we store our hopes of happiness”. As a frame for thinking, and a way of looking forward rather than back, spending a bit of time on the idea of utopia is a useful exercise.
