Editing Utopia (section)

==Modern utopias==
[[File:New Harmony, Indiana, por F. Bates.jpg|right|thumb|[[New Harmony, Indiana]], a utopian attempt, depicted as proposed by [[Robert Owen]]]] [[File:Sointula, British Columbia (08).jpg|thumb|[[Sointula]], a [[Finns|Finnish]] utopian settlement in [[British Columbia]], Canada]]
In the 21st century, discussions around utopia for some authors include [[Post-scarcity economy|post-scarcity economics]], [[late capitalism]], and [[Basic income|universal basic income]]; for example, the "human capitalism" utopia envisioned in ''[[Utopia for Realists]]'' ([[Rutger Bregman]] 2016) includes a universal basic income and a 15-hour [[workweek]], along with [[open border]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/09/who-really-stands-to-win-from-universal-basic-income|title=Who Really Stands to Win from Universal Basic Income?|last=Heller|first=Nathan|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2018-07-02|access-date=2019-08-25|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=2019-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825095533/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/09/who-really-stands-to-win-from-universal-basic-income|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Scandinavia|Scandinavian nation]]s, which as of 2019 ranked at the top of the [[World Happiness Report]], are sometimes cited as modern utopias. But British author [[Michael Booth (writer)|Michael Booth]] called that a myth and wrote the 2014 book [[The Almost Nearly Perfect People]] about life in the Nordic countries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/02/01/382711488/are-danes-really-that-happy-the-myth-of-the-scandinavian-utopia|title=Are Danes Really That Happy? The Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia|publisher=NPR|access-date=2019-08-25|archive-date=2019-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825211806/https://www.npr.org/2015/02/01/382711488/are-danes-really-that-happy-the-myth-of-the-scandinavian-utopia|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Economics===
{{Main|Utopian socialism|Fourierism|Icarians|Owenism}}
Particularly in the early 19th century, several utopian ideas arose, often in response to the belief that social disruption was created and caused by the development of [[commercialism]] and [[capitalism]]. These ideas are often grouped in a greater "utopian socialist" movement, due to their shared characteristics. A once common characteristic is an [[egalitarian]] distribution of goods, frequently with the total abolition of [[money]]. Citizens only do [[labour (economics)|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 appears in [[Edward Bellamy]]'s 1888 novel ''[[Looking Backward]]''. [[William Morris]] depicts another socialist utopia in his 1890 novel ''[[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 which he described as "utopian". (For more information, see the [[History of Socialism]] article.) In a materialist utopian society, the economy is perfect; there is no inflation and only perfect social and financial equality exists.

[[Edward Gibbon Wakefield]]'s utopian theorizing on systematic [[colonialism|colonial]] [[settler|settlement]] policy in the early-19th century also centred on economic considerations, but with a view to preserving class distinctions;<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Woollacott
 | first1 = Angela
 | author-link1 = Angela Woollacott
 | chapter = Systematic Colonization: From South Australia to Australind
 | title = Settler Society in the Australian Colonies: Self-Government and Imperial Culture
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SfCkBgAAQBAJ
 | location = Oxford
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | date = 2015
 | page = 39
 | isbn = 9780191017735
 | access-date = 24 June 2020
 | quote = In Wakefield's utopia, land policy would limit the expansion of the frontier and regulate class relationships.
}}
</ref>
Wakefield influenced several colonies founded in [[New Zealand]] and [[Australia]] in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.

In 1905, [[H. G. Wells]] published ''[[A Modern Utopia]]'', which was widely read and admired and provoked much discussion. 

Part of [[Eric Frank Russell]]'s book ''[[The Great Explosion]]'' (1963) details an economic and social utopia. This book was the first to mention the idea of [[Local Exchange Trading Systems]] (LETS).

During the "[[Khrushchev Thaw]]" period,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Thaw-Soviet-cultural-history|title= the Thaw – Soviet cultural history|access-date= 14 May 2017|archive-date= 11 September 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170911210843/https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Thaw-Soviet-cultural-history|url-status= live}}</ref> the Soviet writer [[Ivan Yefremov|Ivan Efremov]] produced the science-fiction utopia [[Andromeda (novel)|''Andromeda'']] (1957) in which a major cultural thaw took place: 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.

The English political philosopher [[James Harrington (author)|James Harrington]] (1611–1677), author of the utopian work ''[[The Commonwealth of Oceana]]'', published in 1656, inspired English [[Country Party (Britain)|country-party]] republicanism (1680s to 1740s) and became influential in the design of three American colonies. His theories ultimately contributed to the idealistic principles of the American Founders. The colonies of [[Province of Carolina|Carolina]] (founded in 1670), [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] (founded in 1681), and [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]] (founded in 1733) were the only three English colonies in America that were planned as utopian societies with an integrated physical, economic and social design. At the heart of the plan for Georgia was a concept of "agrarian equality" in which land was allocated equally and additional land acquisition through purchase or inheritance was prohibited; the plan was an early step toward the [[yeoman]] republic later envisioned by [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref>Fries, Sylvia, ''The Urban Idea in Colonial America'', Chapters 3 and 5</ref><ref>Home, Robert, ''Of Planting and Planning: The Making of British Colonial Cities'', 9</ref><ref>Wilson, Thomas, ''The Oglethorpe Plan'', Chapters 1 and 2</ref>

The [[Intentional community|commune]]s of the 1960s in the United States often represented an attempt to greatly improve the way humans live together in communities. The [[back-to-the-land]] movements and [[hippie]]s inspired many to try to live in peace and harmony on farms or in remote areas and to set up new types of governance.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu/exhibitions/utopia/uc22.html|title= America and the Utopian Dream – Utopian Communities|website= brbl-archive.library.yale.edu|access-date= 14 May 2017|archive-date= 8 May 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170508061013/http://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu/exhibitions/utopia/uc22.html|url-status= live}}</ref> Communes like [[Kaliflower Commune|Kaliflower]], which existed between 1967 and 1973, attempted to live outside of society's norms and to create their own ideal [[Communalism (Bookchin)|communalist]] society.<ref>{{Cite web
|url= http://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=432
|title= For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements and Communalism in America, 2nd Edition
|website= secure.pmpress.org
|access-date= 2017-04-26
|archive-date= 2017-02-28
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170228044003/https://secure.pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=432
|url-status= dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Curl
 | first1 = John
 | author-link1 = John Curl
 | year = 2009
 | chapter = Communalism in the 20th Century
 | title = For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HQJ1XhTqcR4C
 | edition = 2
 | location = Oakland, California
 | publisher = PM Press
 | publication-date = 2012
 | pages = 312–333
 | isbn = 9781604867329
 | access-date = 24 June 2020
 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

People all over the world organized and built [[intentional communities]] with the hope of developing a better way of living together. Many of these intentional communities are relatively small. Many intentional communities have a population close to 100, but many others possibly are larger than that.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sager |first=Tore |date=August 17, 2017 |title=Planning by intentional communities: An understudied form of activist planning |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1473095217723381 |journal=Planning Theory|volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=449–471 |doi=10.1177/1473095217723381 |issn=1473-0952 |hdl=11250/2598634 |hdl-access=free |access-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109084741/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1473095217723381 |url-status=live }}</ref> While this may seem large, it is pretty small in comparison to the rest of society. From the small populations, it is apparent that people do not prefer this kind of living or do not have the opportunity to join such collections.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}. 

While many of these small communities failed, some are still in existence. The religion-based [[Twelve Tribes communities|Twelve Tribes]], which started in the United States in 1972, grew into many groups around the world. 

Similarly, the commune [[Brook Farm]] was established in 1841, founded by Charles Fourier's visions of Utopia. Its residents attempted to recreate Fourier's idea of the Phalanx, a central building in a society.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Brook Farm {{!}} Transcendentalist Utopia, West Roxbury, MA {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brook-Farm |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica|archive-date=2024-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507020609/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brook-Farm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this commune did not sustain itself and ended after only six years of operation. Its residents wanted it to keep going, primarily due to financial difficulties. The community's goal aligned with utopian ideals to lead a more wholesome and simpler life, avoiding the atmosphere of social pressure in the surrounding society at the time.<ref name="britannica.com"/> Despite ambition and hopes, it is difficult for communes to stay in operation for long.

===Science and technology===
[[File:Early flight 02561u (2).jpg|thumb|upright|Utopian flying machines, France, 1890–1900 (chromolithograph [[trading card]])]]

Though [[Francis Bacon]]'s ''New Atlantis'' is imbued with a scientific spirit, scientific and technological utopias tend to be based 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 transhumanist]]s envision an "[[extropianism|extropia]]", an open, evolving society allowing individuals and voluntary groupings to form the institutions and social forms they prefer.

[[Mariah Utsawa]] 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. In his book ''Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World'', philosopher [[Nick Bostrom]] explores what to do in a "solved world", assuming that human civilization safely builds [[machine superintelligence]] and manages to solve its political, coordination and fairness problems. He outlines some technologies considered physically possible at technological maturity, such as [[cognitive enhancement]], [[reversal of aging]], [[self-replicating spacecraft]]s, arbitrary sensory inputs (taste, sound...), or the precise control of motivation, mood, well-being and personality.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bostrom |first=Nick |title=Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World |date=March 27, 2024 |isbn=978-1646871643}}</ref>

One notable example of a technological and [[libertarian socialist]] utopia is Scottish author [[Iain Banks]]' [[The Culture|Culture]].

Opposing this [[optimism|optimistic]] perspective are scenarios where 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 [[precautionary principle|precautions]] against the premature embrace of new technologies. Both raise questions about changing responsibility and freedom brought by [[division of labour]]. Authors such as [[John Zerzan]] and [[Derrick Jensen (activist)|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]],'' often published as "1984", which have explored some of these topics.

===Ecological===
[[File:Ecotopia 1990 yoga teacher.jpg|thumb|[[European Youth For Action#Ecotopia gathering|Ecotopia 1990]]. Yoga class]]
Ecological utopian society describes new ways in which society should relate to nature.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Claeys |first1=Gregory |title=Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life after Consumerism |date=2024 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691236681 |pages=608 |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691236681/utopianism-for-a-dying-planet |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston]]'' from 1975 by Ernest Callenbach was one of the first influential ecological utopian novels.<ref name="Callenbach, Ernest and Heddle, James">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/tYc9myGMmTc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210414202321/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYc9myGMmTc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web | title= "Ecotopia Then & Now," an interview with Ernest Callenbach | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYc9myGMmTc | access-date=2013-04-06 |author1=Callenbach, Ernest  |author2=Heddle, James | via=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Richard Grove's book ''[[Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism|Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism 1600–1860]]'' from 1995 suggested the roots of ecological [[utopian thinking]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grove |first1=Richard |title=Green imperialism : colonial expansion, tropical island Edens, and the origins of environmentalism, 1600-1860 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/history/regional-history-after-1500/green-imperialism-colonial-expansion-tropical-island-edens-and-origins-environmentalism-16001860?format=PB&isbn=9780521565134 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=14 August 2022 |date=1995 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525073424/https://www.cambridge.org/de/universitypress/subjects/history/regional-history-after-1500/green-imperialism-colonial-expansion-tropical-island-edens-and-origins-environmentalism-16001860?format=PB&isbn=9780521565134 |url-status=live }}</ref> Grove's book sees early environmentalism as a result of the impact of utopian tropical islands on European data-driven scientists.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mollins |first1=Julie |title=Selective memories: The historical roots of environmentalism |url=https://forestsnews.cifor.org/71123/selective-memories-the-historical-roots-of-environmentalism |access-date=16 August 2022 |work=CIFOR Forests News |date=22 February 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816190432/https://forestsnews.cifor.org/71123/selective-memories-the-historical-roots-of-environmentalism |url-status=live }}</ref> The works on ecological eutopia perceive a widening gap between the modern Western way of living that destroys nature<ref>{{cite book |author=Kirk, Andrew G. |year=2007 |title=Counterculture Green: the Whole Earth Catalog and American environmentalism |publisher=University Press of Kansas |page=86 |isbn=978-0-7006-1545-2}}</ref> and a more traditional way of living before industrialization.<ref>For examples and explanations, see: {{cite book|last=Marshall|first=Alan|title=Ecotopia 2121: A Vision of Our Future Green Utopia|publisher=Arcade Publishers|year=2016|isbn=978-1-62872-614-5|location=New York}} And Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew, and Bellamy, Brent Ryan (2019). ''An Ecotopian Lexicon''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. {{ISBN|978-151790-589-7}}</ref> Ecological utopias may advocate a society that is more sustainable. According to the Dutch philosopher [[Marius de Geus]], ecological utopias could be inspirational sources for movements involving [[green politics]].<ref>{{cite book |author=de Geus, Marius |year=1996 |title=Ecologische utopieën – Ecotopia's en het milieudebat |publisher=Uitgeverij Jan van Arkel}}</ref>

===Feminism===
{{See also|Utopian and dystopian fiction#Feminist utopias}}
Utopias have been used to explore the ramifications of genders being either a societal construct or a biologically "hard-wired" imperative or some mix of the two.<ref name=WSEncyc1442>{{cite book|title= Women's Studies Encyclopedia|last= Tierney|first= Helen|year= 1999|publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group|page= [https://archive.org/details/womensstudiesenc0001unse/page/1442 1442]|isbn= 978-0-313-31073-7|url= https://archive.org/details/womensstudiesenc0001unse/page/1442}}</ref> Socialist and economic utopias have tended to take the "woman question" seriously and often to offer some form of equality between the sexes as part and parcel of their vision, whether this be by addressing misogyny, reorganizing society along separatist lines, creating a certain kind of androgynous equality that ignores gender or in some other manner. For example, [[Edward Bellamy]]'s ''[[Looking Backward]]'' (1887) responded, progressively for his day, to the contemporary women's suffrage and women's rights movements. Bellamy supported these movements by incorporating the equality of women and men into his utopian world's structure, albeit by consigning women to a separate sphere of light industrial activity (due to women's lesser physical strength) and making various exceptions for them in order to make room for (and to praise) motherhood. One of the earlier feminist utopias that imagines complete separatism is [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]]'s ''[[Herland (novel)|Herland]]'' (1915).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In [[Gender in speculative fiction|science fiction and technological speculation]], gender can be challenged on the biological as well as the social level. [[Marge Piercy]]'s ''[[Woman on the Edge of Time]]'' portrays equality between the genders and complete equality in sexuality (regardless of the gender of the lovers). Birth-giving, often felt as the divider that cannot be avoided in discussions of women's rights and roles, has been shifted onto elaborate biological machinery that functions to offer an enriched embryonic experience. When a child is born, it spends most of its time in the children's ward with peers. Three "mothers" per child are the norm and they are chosen in a gender neutral way (men as well as women may become "mothers") on the basis of their experience and ability. Technological advances also make possible the freeing of women from childbearing in [[Shulamith Firestone]]'s ''[[The Dialectic of Sex]]''. 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 dependent upon age rather than sex&nbsp;– genderless children mature into women, some of whom eventually become men.<ref name=WSEncyc1442/> "[[William Moulton Marston|William Marston]]'s [[Wonder Woman]] comics of the 1940s featured Paradise Island, also known as [[Themyscira (DC Comics)|Themyscira]], a matriarchal all-female community of peace, loving submission, bondage and giant space kangaroos."<ref>Noah Berlatsky, "Imagine There's No Gender: The Long History of Feminist Utopian Literature," ''The Atlantic,'' April 15, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/04/imagine-theres-no-gender-the-long-history-of-feminist-utopian-literature/274993/ {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130827081729/http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/04/imagine-theres-no-gender-the-long-history-of-feminist-utopian-literature/274993/ |date=2013-08-27 }}</ref>

Utopian [[single-gender worlds]] or single-sex societies have long been one of the primary ways to explore implications of gender and gender-differences.<ref name=DGinSF13/> 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]]. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 novel approaches this type of separate society. Many feminist utopias pondering separatism were written in the 1970s, as a response to the [[Lesbian separatism|Lesbian separatist movement]];<ref name=DGinSF13>Attebery, p. 13.</ref><ref name=erotic1189>[[Gaétan Brulotte]] & John Phillips,''Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature'', "Science Fiction and Fantasy", CRC Press, 2006, p. 1189, {{ISBN|1-57958-441-1}}</ref><ref name =Utop101/> examples include [[Joanna Russ]]'s ''[[The Female Man]]'' and [[Suzy McKee Charnas]]'s ''[[Walk to the End of the World]]'' and ''[[Motherlines]]''.<ref name =Utop101>Martha A. Bartter, ''The Utopian Fantastic'', "Momutes", [[Robin Anne Reid]], p. 101 {{ISBN|0-313-31635-X}}</ref> Utopias imagined by male authors have often included equality between sexes, rather than separation, although as noted Bellamy's strategy includes a certain amount of "separate but equal".<ref name =Utop102>Martha A. Bartter, ''The Utopian Fantastic'', "Momutes", [[Robin Anne Reid]], p. 102 {{ISBN?}}</ref> The use of female-only worlds allows the exploration of female independence and freedom from [[patriarchy]]. The societies may be lesbian, such as ''[[Daughters of a Coral Dawn]]'' by [[Katherine V. Forrest]] or not, and may not be sexual at all&nbsp;– a famous early sexless example being ''[[Herland (novel)|Herland]]'' (1915) by [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]].<ref name=erotic1189/> 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,<ref name=WSEncyc1442/> although such efforts as [[Gerd Brantenberg]]'s ''Egalia's Daughters'' and [[Christa Wolf]]'s portrayal of the land of Colchis in her ''Medea: Voices ''are certainly as influential and famous as any of the American feminist utopias.

===Urban Design===
[[Walter Elias Disney]]'s original [[EPCOT (concept)]] (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), [[Paolo Soleri]]'s [[Arcosanti]], and Saudi Prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]]'s [[Neom]] are examples of Utopian city design.