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Utopia ( /jutopi/) is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society and fictional societies portrayed in literature. It has spawned other concepts most prominently dystopia.

The word comes from the Greek: ("not") and ("place"). The English homophone eutopia derived from the Greek ("good" or "well") and ("place") signifies a double meaning: "good place" and "no place". Contents 1 Varieties 1.1 Ecology 1.2 Economics 1.3 Politics & history 1.4 Religious utopia 1.5 Science and technology 1.6 Feminism 1.7 Utopianism 2 List of utopian literature 2.1 Pre-20th century 2.2 20th century 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links Varieties Left panel (The Earthly Paradise Garden of Eden) from Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Chronologically the first recorded utopian proposal is Plato's Republic.1 Part conversation part fictional depiction and part policy proposal it proposes a categorization of citizens into a rigid class structure of "golden" "silver" "bronze" and "iron" socioeconomic classes. The golden citizens are trained in a rigorous 50-year long educational program to be benign oligarchs the "philosopher-kings." The wisdom of these rulers will supposedly eliminate poverty and deprivation through fairly distributed resources though the details on how to do this are unclear. The educational program for the rulers is the central notion of the proposal.

There is a general pacifism or pacifist attitude. However the people of the Republic are all ready to defend themselves or to compete militarily for resources (such as land) if necessary. It has few laws no lawyers and rarely sends its citizens to war but hires mercenaries from among its war-prone neighbors (these mercenaries were deliberately sent into dangerous situations in the hope that the more warlike populations of all surrounding countries will be weeded out leaving peaceful peoples). The society encourages tolerance of all religions. Some readers including utopian socialists have chosen to accept this imaginary society as the realistic blueprint for a working nation while others have postulated that More intended nothing of the sort. Somewho maintain the position that More's Utopia functions only on the level of a satire a work intended to reveal more about the England of his time than about an idealistic society. This interpretation is bolstered by the title of the book and nation and its apparent confusion between the Greek for "no place" and "good place": "utopia" is a compound of the syllable ou- meaning "no" and topos meaning place. But the homophonic prefix eu- meaning "good" also resonates in the word with the implication that the perfectly "good place" is really "no place."

Another version of this concept is found in the Panchaea island of the "Sacred History" book of Euhemerus a writer from the 3rd century BC. This idea was long before tried in India in terms of the Caste system but the system slowly got corrupt and made things worse. Ecology

Ecological utopian society describes new ways in which society should relate to nature. They react to a perceived widening gap between the modern Western way of living that destroys nature and the traditional way of living that is thought to be more in harmony with nature. According to the Dutch philosopher Marius de Geus ecological utopias could be sources of inspiration for green political movements.2

In the novelette Rumfuddle (1973) Jack Vance presents a novel twist on the ecological utopia. His hero invents paratime travel and becomes effectively the ruler of earth by giving everyone their own alternate-earth wilderness worlds as vacation retreats/suburbs without neighbors. However he requires them to work during the week cleaning up the original Earth and restoring its pristineness. A typical job is driving a bulldozer that shoves the detritus of industrial civilization through a portal into the oceans of a paratime garbage world. Economics

Economic utopias are based on economics. Most intentional communities attempting to create an economic utopia were formed in response to the harsh economic conditions of the 19th century.dubious discuss

Particularly in the early 19th century several utopian ideas arose often in response to their belief that social disruption was created and caused by the development of commercialism and capitalism. These are often grouped in a greater "utopian socialist" movement due to their shared characteristics: an egalitarian distribution of goods frequently with the total abolition of money and citizens only doing work which they enjoy and which is for the common good leaving them with ample time for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. One classic example of such a utopia was Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. Another socialist utopia is William Morris' News from Nowhere written partially in response to the top-down (bureaucratic) nature of Bellamy's utopia which Morris criticized. However as the socialist movement developed it moved away from utopianism; Marx in particular became a harsh critic of earlier socialism he described as utopian. (For more information see the History of Socialism article.) Also consider Eric Frank Russell's book The Great Explosion (1963) whose last section details an economic and social utopia. This forms the first mention of the idea of Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS).citation needed Utopias have also been imagined by the opposite side of the political spectrum. For example Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress portrays an individualistic and libertarian utopia. Capitalist utopias of this sort are generally based on free market economies in which the presupposition is that private enterprise and personal initiative without an institution of coercion government provides the greatest opportunity for achievement and progress of both the individual and society as a whole.citation needed Another view that capitalist utopias do not address is the issue of market failure any more than socialist utopias address the issue of planning failure. Thus a blend of socialism and capitalism is seen by some as the type of economy in a utopia. For example one such idea is to have small community-owned enterprises working under a market-based model of economy. Such a model of market-based Communism itself was in theory supposed to create a "classless utopia" but no nation has ever reached that point.citation needed During the late-20th century many economic utopias sprang up around the United States in response to various political conservative movements. They were largely dubbed communes.citation needed Politics & history A global utopia of world peace is often seen as one of the possible endings of history. Within the localized political structures or spheres it presents "polyculturalism" is the model-based adaptation of possible interactions between different cultures and identities in accordance with the principles of participatory society.3 The Soviet writer Ivan Efremov produced during the "Thaw" period the science-fiction utopia Andromeda (1957) in which a united humanity communicates with a galaxy-wide Great Circle and develops its technology and culture within a social framework characterized by vigorous competition between alternative philosophies. Religious utopia New Harmony a utopian attempt; depicted as proposed by Robert Owen Religious utopias can be intra-religious or inter-religious. The inter-religious utopia borders on a concept like Polyculturalism and is not deemed possible in the near future or the near-far future. Fledgling theories are generally canceled as impossible but the ideology of God and Religion used in inter-religious utopia is commonly stated by many people as their view of God. Inter-religious utopia is a condition where the leaders of different religions accept science as a part of human-living and agree to abolish all baseless superstitious beliefs. In more extended theories it goes up to the level of different religious leaders setting-aside their differences and accepting harmony peace and understanding to unite all religions within one another thereby forming an utopian religion or a religion of Humans with God being defined as Science or the (supposed) supernatural force that reigned before the birth of the universe. Religion and God being used as a self-motivating factor for people to believe in and raise themselves out of difficult situations. Intra-Religious utopias are based on religious ideals and are to date those most commonly found in human society. Their members are usually required to follow and believe in the particular religious tradition that established the utopia. Some permit non-believers or non-adherents to take up residence within them; others (such as the Community at Qumran) do not. The Islamic Jewish and Christian ideas of the Garden of Eden and Heaven may be interpreted as forms of utopianism especially in their folk-religious forms. Such religious utopias are often described as "gardens of delight" implying an existence free from worry in a state of bliss or enlightenment. They postulate freedom from sin pain poverty and death and often assume communion with beings such as angels or the houri. In a similar sense the Hindu concept of Moksha and the Buddhist concept of Nirvana may be thought of as a kind of utopia. In Hinduism or Buddhism however utopia is not a place but a state of mind. A belief that if we are able to practice meditation without continuous stream of thoughts we are able to reach enlightenment. This enlightenment promises exit from the cycle of life and death relating back to the concept of utopia. In Thomas More's Utopia there is a rule in Utopia of religious tolerance the penalty for breaking it is slavery or exile. The only despised people are atheists as they do not believe in a reward for good behaviour. However the usual idea of utopia which is normally created by human effort is more clearly evident in the use of these ideas as the bases for religious utopias as members attempt to establish/reestablish on Earth a society which reflects the virtues and values they believe have been lost or which await them in the Afterlife. In the United States and Europe during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century and thereafter many radical religious groups formed utopian societies in which all aspects of people's lives could be governed by their faith. Among the best-known of these utopian societies were the Shakers which originated in England in the 18th century but moved to America shortly afterward. A number of religious utopian societies from Europe came to the United States from the 18th century throughout the 19th century including the Society of the Woman in the Wilderness (led by Johannes Kelpius) the Ephrata Cloister and the Harmony Society among others. The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist group founded in Iptingen Germany in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Wrttemberg4 the society moved to the United States on October 7 1803 settled in Pennsylvania and on February 15 1805 they together with about 400 followers formally organized the Harmony Society placing all their goods in common. The group lasted until 1905 making it one of the longest-running financially successful communes in American history. The Oneida Community founded by John Humphrey Noyes in Oneida New York was a utopian religious commune that lasted from 1848 to 1881. Although this utopian experiment is better known today for its manufacture of Oneida silverware it was one of the longest-running communes in American history. The Amana Colonies were communal settlements in Iowa started by radical German pietists which lasted from 1855 to 1932. The Amana Corporation manufacturer of refrigerators and household appliances was originally started by the group. Other examples are Fountain Grove Riker's Holy City and other Californian utopian colonies between 1855 and 1955 (Hine) as well as Sointula5 in British Columbia Canada. Science and technology Utopian flying machines France 1890-1900 (chromolithograph trading card). Scientific and technological utopias are set in the future when it is believed that advanced science and technology will allow utopian living standards; for example the absence of death and suffering; changes in human nature and the human condition. Technology has affected the way humans have lived to such an extent that normal functions like sleep eating or even reproduction have been replaced by artificial means. Other examples include a society where humans have struck a balance with technology and it is merely used to enhance the human living condition (e.g. Star Trek). In place of the static perfection of a utopia libertarian transhumanists envision an "extropia" an open evolving society allowing individuals and voluntary groupings to form the institutions and social forms they prefer. Buckminster Fuller presented a theoretical basis for technological utopianism and set out to develop a variety of technologies ranging from maps to designs for cars and houses which might lead to the development of such a utopia. One notable example of a technological and libertarian socialist utopia is Scottish author Iain Banks' Culture. Opposing this optimism is the prediction that advanced science and technology will through deliberate misuse or accident cause environmental damage or even humanity's extinction. Critics such as Jacques Ellul and Timothy Mitchell advocate precautions against the premature embrace of new technologies raising questions on responsibility and freedom brought by division of labour. Authors such as John Zerzan and Derrick Jensen consider that modern technology is progressively depriving humans of their autonomy and advocate the collapse of the industrial civilization in favor of small-scale organization as a necessary path to avoid the threat of technology on human freedom and sustainability. There are many examples of techno-dystopias portrayed in mainstream culture such as the classics Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four which have explored some of these topics. Feminism Utopias have been used to explore the ramification of gender being either a societal construct or a hard-wired imperative.6 The fictional aliens in Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed start out as gender-neutral children and do not develop into men and women until puberty and gender has no bearing on social roles. In contrast Doris Lessing's The Marriages Between Zones Three Four and Five (1980) suggests that men's and women's values are inherent to the sexes and cannot be changed making a compromise between them essential. In My Own Utopia (1961) by Elizabeth Mann Borghese gender exists but is dependant upon age rather than sex  genderless children mature into women some of whom eventually become men.6 Utopic single-gender worlds or single-sex societies have long been one of the primary ways to explore implications of gender and gender-differences.7 In speculative fiction female-only worlds have been imagined to come about by the action of disease that wipes out men along with the development of technological or mystical method that allow female parthenogenic reproduction. The resulting society is often shown to be utopian by feminist writers. Many influential feminist utopias of this sort were written in the 1970s;789 the most often studied examples include Joanna Russ's The Female Man and Suzy McKee Charnas's Walk to the End of the World and Motherlines.9 Utopias imagined by male authors have generally included equality between sexes rather than separation.10 Such worlds have been portrayed most often by lesbian or feminist authors; their use of female-only worlds allows the exploration of female independence and freedom from patriarchy. The societies may not necessarily be lesbian or sexual at all  a famous early sexless example being Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.8 Charlene Ball writes in Women's studies encyclopedia that use of speculative fiction to explore gender roles in future societies has been more common in the United States compared to Europe and elsewhere.6 Utopianism The Golden Age by Lucas Cranach the Elder. In many cultures societies religions and cosmogonies there is some myth or memory of a distant past when humankind lived in a primitive and simple state but at the same time one of perfect happiness and fulfillment. In those days the various myths tell us there was an instinctive harmony between man and nature. Men's needs were few and their desires limited. Both were easily satisfied by the abundance provided by nature. Accordingly there were no motives whatsoever for war or oppression. Nor was there any need for hard and painful work. Humans were simple and pious and felt themselves close to the gods. According to one anthropological theory hunter-gathers were the original affluent society. These mythical or religious archetypes are inscribed in all the cultures and resurge with special vitality when people are in difficult and critical times. However the projection of the myth does not take place towards the remote past but either towards the future or towards distant and fictional places imagining that at some time of the future at some point of the space or beyond the death must exist the possibility of living happily. These myths of the earliest stage of humankind have been referred to by various religions: Golden Age The Greek poet Hesiod around the 8th century BC in his compilation of the mythological tradition (the poem Works and Days) explained that prior to the present era there were other four progressively more perfect ones the oldest of which was the Golden age. Plutarch the Greek historian and biographer of the 1st century dealt with the blissful and mythic past of the humanity. Arcadia e.g. in Sir Philip Sidney's prose romance The Old Arcadia (1580). Originally a region in the Peloponnesus Arcadia became a synonym for any rural area that serves as a pastoral setting as a locus amoenus ("delightful place"): The Biblical Garden of Eden The Biblical Garden of Eden as depicted in Genesis 2 (Authorized Version of 1611): "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ... And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ... And the Lord God said It is not good that the man should be alone; ... And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man." The Land of Cokaygne The Land of Cokaygne also spelled Cockaygne or Cockaigne (in the German tradition referred to as "Schlaraffenland"de:Schlaraffenland) has been aptly called the "poor man's heaven" being a popular fantasy of pure hedonism and thus a foil for the innocent and instinctively virtuous life that is depicted in all the other accounts mentioned above. Cockaygne is a land of extravagance and excess rather than simplicity and piety. There is freedom from work and every material thing is free and available. Cooked larks fly straight into one's mouth; the rivers run with wine; sexual promiscuity is the norm; and there is a fountain of youth which keeps everyone young and active. There is a medieval poem (c. 1315) written in rhyming couplets which is entitled "The Land of Cokaygne": "Far in the sea to the west of Spain Is a country called Cokaygne. There's no land not anywhere In goods or riches to compare. Though Paradise be merry and bright Cokaygne is of far fairer sight...." These myths also express some hope that the idyllic state of affairs they describe is not irretrievably and irrevocably lost to mankind that it can be regained in some way or other. One way would be to look for the "earthly paradise"a place like Shangri-La hidden in the Tibetan mountains and described by James Hilton in his utopian novel Lost Horizon (1933). Such paradise on earth must be somewhere if only man were able to find it. Christopher Columbus followed directly in this tradition in his belief that he had found the Garden of Eden when towards the end of the 15th century he first encountered the New World and its indigenous inhabitants. Another way of regaining the lost paradise (or Paradise Lost as 17th century English poet John Milton calls it) would be to wait for the future for the return of the Golden Age. According to Christian theology the Fall from Paradise caused by Man alone when he disobeyed God ("but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it") has resulted in the wickedness of character that all human beings have been born with since (original sin). In a scientific approach to finding utopia the Global Scenario Group an international group of scientists founded by Paul Raskin used scenario analysis and backcasting to map out a path to an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future. Its findings suggest that a global citizens' movement is necessary to steer political economic and corporate entities toward this new sustainability paradigm. List of utopian literature Pre-20th century The Republic (written around 380 BCE) by Plato is one of the earliest conceptions of a utopia. The City of God (written 413426 AD) by Augustine of Hippo describes an ideal city the "eternal" Jerusalem the archetype of all Christian utopias. Tao Hua Yuan (421) is a utopia for Chinese intellects. Al-Madina al-Fadila written by Al-Farabi (874-950) where he theorized an ideal state as in Plato's The Republic. Al-Farabi represented religion as a symbolic rendering of truth and like Plato saw it as the duty of the philosopher to provide guidance to the state. Utopia (1516) by Thomas More. Christianopolis (1619) by Johann Valentin Andre describes a Christian utopia inhabited by a community of scholar-artisans and run as a democracy. The City of the Sun (1623) by Tommaso Campanella depicts a theocratic and egalitarian society. New Atlantis (1627) by Francis Bacon. Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler constitute a satiric romp through a hidden utopia (with dystopian elements) in the mountains of New Zealand. News from Nowhere by William Morris (1892) Shows "Nowhere" a place without politics a future society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production.11 Looking Backward (1888) by Edward Bellamy. Gloriana or the Revolution of 1900 (1890) by Lady Florence Dixie. The female protagonist poses as a man Hector l'Estrange is elected to the House of Commons and wins women the vote. The book ends in the year 1999 with a description of a prosperous and peaceful Britain governed by women.12 20th century Childhood's End(1954) by Arthur C. Clarke alien beings guide humanity towards a more economically productive and technologically advanced society allowing humans to broaden their mental capacities. A Modern Utopia (1905) by H. G. Wells Islandia (1942) by Austin Tappan Wright an imaginary island in the Southern Hemisphere a utopia containing many Arcadian elements including a policy of isolation from the outside world and a rejection of industrialism. (In three sequels by Mark Saxton including The Islar (1969) below.) In the film Road to Utopia (1943) it was suggested (comically) that a personal Utopia could be obtained from the wealth of gold mines in Alaska USA. Walden Two (1948) by B. F. Skinner a community in which every aspect of living is put to rigorous scientific testing. A professor and his colleagues question the effectiveness of the community started by an eccentric man named T.E. Frazier. Big Planet (1957) by Jack Vance depicts a world in which attempts by utopian misfits to set up new societies have gone haywire after many revert to savagery and violence. But one city Kirstendale sets up a successful order in which citizens constantly shift their status titles and duties (from servant to aristocrat and back again) according to an elaborate schedule. Island (1962) by Aldous Huxley follows the story of Will Farnaby a cynical journalist who shipwrecks on the fictional island of Pala and experiences their unique culture and traditions which create a utopian society. The Islar (1969) the Islandians develop a modern air force to fend off hostile communist-allied neighbors and debate whether to join the UN. The Lathe of Heaven (1971) by Ursula K. Le Guin a man is able to "effectively" dream changing waking reality. A psychologist to whom he goes for treatment tries to use the man's talent to improve society but finds that each of his "solutions" has disastrous unintended consequences. The Dispossessed (1974) by Ursula K. Le Guin the story of two planets one very much like the capitalist materialistic profligate United States and the other a "nonpropertarian" society in which private ownership is unknown and people merely uses as much of natural resources or finished goods as they need. The two worlds are walled off (as were the capitalist and Communist world at the time of its writing). A physicist named Shevek travels between the two worlds and compares in a literary structure much like that of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston (1975) by Ernest Callenbach ecological utopia in which the Pacific Northwest has seceded from the union to set up a new society. Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) by Marge Piercy the story of a middle-aged Hispanic woman who has visions of two alternative futures one utopian and the other dystopian. The Probability Broach (1980) by L. Neil Smith presents both utopian and dystopian views of present day North America through alternative outcomes of the American War for Independence. Always Coming Home (1985) by Ursula K. Le Guin a combination of fiction and fictional anthropology about a society in California in the distant future. The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993) by Starhawk a post-apocalyptic novel depicting two societies one a sustainable economy based on social justice and its neighbor a militaristic and intolerant theocracy. The Giver (1993) a Young Adult novel by Lois Lowry Utopia is the eleventh episode of the third revived series of cult science-fiction show Doctor Who. The episode focused around an attempted voyage to the planet 'Utopia'. See also Perpetuum mobile Artificial intelligence Notes More Travis; George M. Logan (1989) Geus Marius de (1996). Ecologische utopien- Ecotopia's en het milieudebat. Uitgeverij Jan van Arkel. Spannos Chris (2008-07-05). "What is Real Utopia". Z Magazine. Z Communications. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/18100. Retrieved 2008-09-01.  Robert Paul Sutton Communal Utopias and the American Experience: Religious Communities (2003) p. 38 Teuvo Peltoniemi (1984). "Finnish Utopian Settlements in North America". sosiomedia.fi. http://www.sosiomedia.fi/utopia/nasettlements.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-12.  a b c Tierney Helen (1999). Women's studies encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1442. ISBN 9780313310737.  a b Attebery p. 13. a b Gatan Brulotte & John PhillipsEncyclopedia of Erotic Literature' "Science Fiction and Fantasy" p.1189 CRC Press 2006 ISBN 1-57958-441-1 a b Martha A. Bartter The Utopian Fantastic "Momutes" Robin Anne Reid p.101 ISBN 0-313-31635-X Martha A. Bartter The Utopian Fantastic "Momutes" Robin Anne Reid p.102 ISBN Morris William (2006) 1903. The Earthly Paradise. Obscure Press. ISBN 1846645239.  Gates Barbara T. (ed.) In Nature's Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing and Illustration 1780-1930 University of Chicago Press 2002 References Kumar Krishan (1991) Utopianism (Milton Keynes: Open University Press) ISBN 0-335-15361-5 Manuel Frank & Manuel Fritzie (1979) Utopian Thought in the Western World (Oxford: Blackwell) ISBN 0-674-93185-8 Hine Robert V. (1983) California's Utopian Colonies (University of California Press) ISBN 0-520-04885-7 Kumar K (1987) Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times (Oxford: Blackwell) ISBN 0-631-16714-5 Shadurski Maxim I. (2007) Literary Utopias from More to Huxley: The Issues of Genre Poetics and Semiosphere. Finding an Island (Moscow: URSS) ISBN 978-5-382-00362-7 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Utopia Wikisource has the text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia's article about Utopia. The Utopian - Magazine about contemporary politics art and culture that takes from utopian thought a spirit of free inquiry and open-mindedness Utopia - The Columbia Encyclopedia Sixth Edition 2001 Society for Utopian Studies - an international interdisciplinary association devoted to the study of utopianism with a particular emphasis on literary and experimental utopias. History of 15 Finnish utopian settlements in Africa the Americas Asia Australia and Europe. Towards Another Utopia of The City Institute of Urban Design Bremen Germany Utopias - a learning resource from the British Library Utopia and Utopianism - an academic journal Utopia of the GOOD An essay on Utopias and their nature. Review of Ehud Ben ZVI Ed. (2006). Utopia and Dystopia in Prophetic Literature. Helsinki: The Finish Exegetical Society. 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