Pathfinder: Utopian Studies and American 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.

Preserving America’s Utopian Dream. Cultural Resource Management. Vol. 24, Issue 9. http://crm.cr.nps.gov/issue.cfm?volume=24&number=09>.

This is not a full journal, but merely one issue in the journal Cultural Resource Management (produced by the US Parks Service) which focuses on Utopian societies. Entitled Preserving America’s Utopian Dream, the issue has fifteen articles on American Utopian societies. They discuss famous Utopian groups such as Brook Farm and New Harmony. They also bring up Utopian theory in articles like “Origins of the Utopian Idea.” While this is only one issue of a journal, it is still a worthwhile resource.

Utopian Studies. http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/journal/index.html>.

This journal is produced by the Society for Utopian Studies, and is the only scholarly journal devoted to Utopian studies. The text of the articles is not available online. However, looking at the list of authors can give a Utopian scholar a useful starting point to track down experts on Utopian studies.

These books give a good background on various modes of Utopian thinking.  The classic, of course, is Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, in which he describes his idea of the parfect society.  All of these books are available in various print editions and most or all of them are available for free online.  
 
 More, Thomas.  Utopia.  1516. 
Bellamy, Edward.  Looking Back.  1888.  
Plato.  The Republic.  (c. 360 BC) 
Bacon, Francis.  The New Atlantis.  1626. 
Swift, Jonathan.  Gulliver’s Travels.  1726.