Communal Utopias and the American Experience

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Communal Utopias and the American Experience Secular Communities, 1824-2000

Robert P. Sutton

Book Code: C7553

ISBN: 0-275-97553-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97553-1

DOI:

184 pages, n/a

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 2/28/2004

List Price: $82.95 (UK Sterling Price: £47.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Also Available: Ebook

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Reviews:

Sutton's work provides a valuable introduction to communal utopias. His notes and bibliography offer a sound foundation for the examination of U.S. utopian experiments. Recommended. All levels/libraries.
—Choice November 2004
[I]mproves upon previous reference books in its coverage and currency.
—The Journal of American History March 2005
[B]elongs in all major library collections.
—History Fall 2004

Description: This important study begins with America's first secular utopia at New Harmony in 1824 and traces successive utopian experiments in the United States through the following centuries. For the first time, readers will come to realize that American communalism is not a disjointed, erratic, almost ephemeral part of our past, but has been an on-going, essential part of American history. We have a communal utopian motif that sets the history of the United States apart from any other nation. The utopian communal story is just one other dimension of the Puritan concept that America was a "city upon a hill," a "beacon light" to all the world where the perfect society could be built and could flourish. After discussing New Harmony and other Owenite communities, the author examines nine Fourierist utopias that were built before the Civil War. Next, he analyzes the five Icarian colonies that, collectively, were the longest-lived, non-religious communal experiments in American history. Then, discussion moves to the seven Gilded Age socialist cooperatives, followed by the utopian communities created during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Finally, Sutton turns to the hippie colonies and intentional communities of the last half of the 20th century.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
New Harmony and Owenite Communities
Utopian Socialist Communities
Icaria
Gilded Age Socialist Cooperatives
Great Depression Communities
Modern Communal Utopias
Selected Bibliography
Index

LC Card Number: 2003023425

LCC Class: HX653

Dewey Class: 307


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