Pathfinder: Utopian Studies and American Utopian Societies

This pathfinder is intended to accompany the Senior Thesis Project of Claire Pritchard of Springfield Township High School, Pennsylvania.  It is intended to be used as a research aid for those interested in the history of Utopian societies in the United States, as well as the study of Utopian philosophy in general.  It provides numerous links to helpful websites, as well as titles of pertinent journal articles and books.  Furthermore, it provides library call numbers and suggestions of search terms in case a Utopian scholar wants to pursue his or her research further.  With the aid of this pathfinder, scholars can attempt to answer the essential questions surrounding Utopian research, such as:

Why have previous American Utopian societies failed?

Are there ay successful (or fairly successful) Utopian societies functioning in the United States now?

How have previous Utopian societies affected the mainstream United States?

It is possible to have a sustainable, widespread, Utopian community in America?

When beginning to research Utopian societies, one of the most important things for a scholar to do initially is to narrow down to topic which he or she wants to research. Between the many Utopian thinkers, the many historic Utopian societies, and the attempted Utopian societies of today, there are many topics to research. These can be overwhelming unless one focuses on a specific topic. For example, in this pathfinder, the research covers only Utopian societies in the United States, with a focus on the societies of the nineteenth century.

When researching, it is also imperative that one remembers the importance of primary sources. Most of the Utopian societies left behind a wealth of primary source information, including letters, diaries, testimonials, speeches, books, articles, and sermons. These can be infinitely helpful in understanding the mindset of the society’s members as well as community dynamics.

Finally, it is important that one ascertains that a source is credible before using it for research. Where possible, annotations in this pathfinder include the author’s credentials. This is important in determining whether a source is scholarly or dubious.

Utopian studies is an incredibly interesting topic, and hopefully with the help of this pathfinder it will become a topic accessible to anyone who is interested.

While some academic blogs may mention Utopian studies or Utopian societies, there are virtually no respectable blogs that focus on Utopian studies or Utopian societies.  Utopian studies is not a topic in which blogs are extremely useful research tools.

When browsing search engines for information on utopian societies, some search terms work better than others.

Useful Search Terms:

“American Utopian societies”

“Utopian societies”

“Utopian communities”

“Utopias”

“Communes”

“Religious societies”

“Religious communities”

“Communal living”

“Utopian theory”

“Utopia literature”

Additionally, it is useful to search the names of specific Utopian communities, like Oneida and Brook Farm, as well as the names of Utopian thinkers and community founders, like John Humphrey Noyes.

While studying Utopian societies, research into related topics can help clarify Utopian studies and give background. They include:

Litarature

Philosophy

American History

American Religious Movements

Distopias

American Counter Culture

There are not very many streaming videos available over the Internet that significantly further one’s knowledge of Utopian societies. Some non-educational movies featuring possible Utopias and Distopias, like The Village and A Handmaid’s Tale, can give some possible scenarios of attempted Utopian societies.

One useful video about the Pennsylvania Utopian society the Amish is:

“The Amish.”  1993.  Online Video Clip.  Safari Montage.  Springfield Township HS Lib.  3 Apr. 2006.  http://172.20.5.202/SAFARI/montage/dashboard.php>. 

 This short documentary focuses on the Amish, a quasi-Utopian society with origins in western Pennsylvania.  The film provides a good overview of Amish life and practices, and gives good information on one of the more well-known Utopian societies. 

Libraries often have print indexes, meant to lead a researcher towards journal articles and other sources that may prove useful in his or her research. In a pathfinder, it would normally be appropiate to list several print indexes that would provide help to the researcher. However, in the case of Utopian studies, no print index is of much help for such a specialized topic. It is much more effective to simply search individual, specialized journals, like those cited in this pathfinder.

Apsler, Alfred.  Communes Through the Ages.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.

This book, written by a man who has taught at various colleges and published numerous books on social issues and social rebellion, discusses the history of Utopian societies.  It not only  talks about Utopian societies in the United States, but also those around the world.  Although this pathfinder focuses on American Utopian communities, the global perspective is still of interest.

Horwitz, Elinor.  Communes in America.  Philadelphia: JB Lippincott Company, 1972.

This book, written by a journalist who focuses on social issues, provides an overview of Utopian societies in America.  The book begins with a discussion on Utopian literature, then goes on to discuss Utopian societies like the Shakers, the Rappites, Brook Farm, Oneida, and the communes of the 1960s.  While this book does not delve deep into the motivations behind the communes, it does provide a good deal of information on the individual societies.

Melville, Keith.  Communities in the Counter Culture.  New York: William Morrow and Company, 1972.

This book, written by a professor of Urban Studies at Fielding Graduate University, discusses the communes of the 1960’s and their role in the counter-culture of that decade.  A sometime participant in communes, Melville is able to give the reader information and insights that come from actual experience.  The book also compares the Utopian societies of the 1960’s to those of the nineteenth century.  He especially focuses on the creation of Utopias as a rebellion against society.  The book provides an interesting perspective on 1960’s communes.

Munkner, Jorn. “Iceberg: Utopia, Dystopia, and Myopia in the Late-19th Century.” Covering the Chaos. Georgetown University. 25 Mar. 2006.

http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/exhibition/utopia/utopia.html>.

This website is an article by a Georgetown professor, and it discusses the ideas of the nineteenth century, looking at the work of Utopian philosophers like Bellamy and comparing them to the actual events of the nineteenth century. It is a good overview of nineteenth century Utopian thought.

The Religious Movements Homepage Project. 22 May 2005. The University of Virginia. 25 March 2006. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/>.

This webpage is a creation of the University of Virginia, and focuses on religious movements in the United States. On the website are many articles about Utopian and semi-Utopian societies. Since the page is complied by a renowned institute of learning, the information on the pages is accurate and reliable. The website not only includes essays about religious movements in America, but also brief overviews of different religious movement, which are a starting-off point for further research.

“Utopia Online Library.” Deep Leaf Productions. 2006. 25 March 2006. http://www.deepleafproductions.com/utopialibrary/>.

This website is a collection of online books, speeches, and essays by prominent Utopian thinkers. It was organized by Deep Leaf Productions, a documentary film company specializing in documentaries on Utopian subjects. The Library has the works of Francis Bacon, Edward, Bellamy, Aldous Huxley and HG Wells, among dozens of other Utopian thinkers.

“Utopias in America.” The Amana Colonies. National Park Service. 25 Mar. 2006. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/amana/utopia.htm>.

This website, put out by the National Park Service, does a good job of giving overviews of the most prominent and influential Utopian societies that have existed in America. The website discusses Brook Farm, the Shakers, the Rappites, and Oneida. While none of the communities are discussed in-depth, the site provides an easy-to-understand and simple explanation of the communities.

Versluis, Arthus. “Western Esotericism and The Harmony Society.” Studies in American Esotericism. 2006. Michigan State University. 25 March 2006. http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Versluis.html>.

This article, part of a wealth of information compiled by Michigan State University on American esotericism, discusses the nineteenth century Utopian community called the Harmony Society. It is written by Professor Versluis, who teaches American Literature at Michigan State University. The website relays the history of the Harmony community and the people who lived in it, the Rappites. Versluis puts special emphasis on how Harmony was affect by the events of the outside world. The result is an interesting and comprehensive study of the Rappites, complete with relevant pictures.

Dr. Joseph J. Gonzalez
Email: gonzalezjj@appstate.edu

Professor Gonzalez teaches the class “The Search for the Ideal Community” at Watuga College.

Clare Jackson

Email: jclj1@cam.ac.uk

Richard Serjeantson

Email: rws1001@cam.ac.uk

Professors Serjeantson and Jackson teach the class “Utopian Writing, 1516-1798” at Cambridge University.

Ursula Hoffman

Email: hoffmann@lehman.cuny.edu

Professor Hoffman teaches a seminar entitled “Utopia” at Lehman College.

Kenneth Roemer

Email: roemer@uta.edu

Professor Roemer teaches English at the University of Texas at Arlington. Additionally, he is the head of the Society for Utopian Studies.

Lucy Sargisson

Email: Lucy.Sargisson@nottingham.ac.uk
Jim Arnold

Email: utopia@newlanark.org

Lorna Davidson

Email: lorna.davidson@newlanark.org

These three run the Utopian Studies Society.

Dennis Hardy

Email: hardy_poundbury@yahoo.co.uk

Professor Hardy teaches Urban Planning at Middlesex University. Additionally, he is the author of several books on Utopian societies and the planning of Utopian societies.

Abbott, Phillip. “Eisenhower, King Utopus, and the Fifties Decade in America.” Presidential Studies Quarterly. Mar 2002. 7-30. eLibrary History Study Center. Springfield Twp. HS Lib. 25 March 2006. http://www.historystudycenter.com>.

This article, written by a professor of political science at Wayne State University, compared Eisenhower to King Utopus, the head of Utopia in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. Abbott argues that during the fifties, when America was struggling to reinvent itself after the Great Depression and World War II, a lot of political, social, and economic planning was akin to Utopian thought. It is an interesting perspective, and reminds the reader that Utopian ideas are everywhere.

Bisk, Tsvi. “Toward a Practical Utopianism: Utopian Thinking needs to be Rescued from Fantasy and Fanaticism; It Must Embrace Science but Disclaim Moral Relativism.” The Futurist. May 2002. 22 – 26. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

Tsvi Bisk, the author of this article, is the director of the Center for Strategic Futurist Thinking, as well as a former senior associate of the Beit Berl Institute. His article discusses a Utopian theory Bisk calls Neo-Utopianism. In the article, Bisk suggests that the Utopian vision needs to become more practical, if it will ever become a reality. He argues that we need to incorporate modern thought and values into a Utopian society. His article offers an interesting theory on how to proceed in creating a Utopian society in today’s world.

Cosgel, Metin M., Thomas J. Miceli, and John E. Murray. “Organization and Distributional Equality in a Network of Communes: The Shakers.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology. Apr. 1997. 1-16. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

This article, written by three economics professors (Professors Cosgel and Miceli from the University of Connecticut and Professor Murray from the University of Toldeo), discusses the Shakers, a religious Utopian society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The authors point out that even though the Shaker communities were supposed to be egalitarian, Utopian societies, they were still not equal. The article discusses the Shaker practice of putting members into communal work groups called “families.” It goes on to indicate that different families had different economic status, leading to a society differentiated by economic classes. The article does a good job of pointing out the problems with a communal society, and how Utopian communities are hardly ever perfectly, ideally, Utopian.

De Vorsey, Louis. “A Land of New Beginnings: James Edward Oglethorpe’s Map of an American Utopia.” Mercator’s World. May-June 2002. 18-24. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

This article discusses James Oglethorpe’s Utopian vision when planning out the state of Georgia. The author, Dr. Louis De Vorsey, is a retired history professor from the University of Georgia. He has written fifteen books, and among many other honors, is a Fellow of the Society for the History of Discoveries. The article details Oglethorpe’s efforts to make Georgia a Utopia, including his town planning and settlement policies. It also provides several of Oglethorpe’s original maps, planning out his ideal Georgia. This article is a well-written and informative reminder that Utopian vision helped found this country.

Huffman, Donald W. “Life in a Hutterite Colony: An Outsider’s Experience and Reflections on a Forgotten People in Our Midst.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology. Oct. 2000. 549. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

This article by Donald W. Huffman, a professor and board member at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University studies the Hutterites, a Protestant religious sect which has several thriving colonies throughout North America. Huffman attempts to discover the secret to the success of these Utopian communities. The author lived with a Hutterite colony, learning about their way of life. In this article, he concludes that a combination of the Hutterites’ religious beliefs, family structure, equal division of labor, and well-developed community planning strategy. This article is an excellent example of a modern, prospering Utopian society, and offers insight on how a Utopian society can be achieved.

Roach, Monique Patenaude. “The Loss of Religious Allegiance among the Youth of the Oneida Community.” The Historian. Summer 2001. 787. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

Professor Roach, the author of this article, teaches in the Department of History at LeMoyne College. The article discusses the Oneida community, a religious Utopian society advocating communal living and free love. In the article, Roach attempts to explain the breakup of Oneida, and attributes most of the disintegration to Oneida’s youth. She argues that the adult offspring of the first generation of Oneida citizens rejected Oneida’s religious teachings in favor of more modern, scientific views. As an example, Roach points to founder John Humphrey Noyes’s own son, who rejected his father’s views. This article details a good example of one of the ways a good idea can fall apart.

Thies, Clifford F. “The Success of American Communes.” Southern Economic Journal. July 2000. 186. General Reference Center Gold. Gale Group. Springfield Township HS Lib. 25 Mar. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com>.

The author of this article, Dr. Clifford Thies, is a professor of Economics and Finance at Shenandoah University’s Buisness School. In this article, he studies 281 American communes from 1683 to 1937, analyzing their structures and their levels of success. He finds some common factors which seem to indicate a community will be successful, including being pious, inducing commitment in members, allowing some private property, and having a partially anarchic government. In the end, Dr. Thies concludes that a community can increase its likelihood of success if it gives it at least partially to the egoism of its members. This article is extremely interesting, and provides a great overview of the hundreds of Utopian societies that have existed in America.