Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America: 1888-1918

by Francis Shor Ph.D.

Overview

Utopianism and radicalism achieve greater prominence when economic and social crises render the dominant moral and political universe open to question. The essays in this book examine how utopianism and radicalism informed the literary expressions, political discourse, communal experiments, and cultural projects in the U.S. from 1888 to 1918. In particular, these essays track how socialism, anarchism, syndicalism, feminism, and black nationalism contested the ideological terrain during a period when reform ideas and movements were beginning to reshape that terrain. The degree to which utopianism and radicalism were involved in that reformulation, either in its expanse or its constraint, is of prime interest throughout the book. Teachers and students interested in utopian studies, American studies, and the cultural/intellectual history of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era will find this book highly useful.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313303791
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/1997
Series:	Contributions in American History , #178
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1850L (what's this?)

About the Author

FRANCIS ROBERT SHOR is Associate Professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Wayne State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: "A Better World's in Birth"
Utopianism and Radicalism in Literary Expressions
The Ideological Matrix of Reform in Late Nineteeth-Century America: Reading Bellamy's Looking Backward
The "New Woman" in Turban-of-the-Century Utopian Fiction: Bellamy's Equality and Gilman's "A Woman's Utopia"
Racial Boundaries and "Hidden" African-American Utopias: Griggs's Imperium in Imperio and Hopkins's "Of One Blood"
Socialism and Its Discontents: London's The Iron Heel and Reader Response
Utopianism and Radicalism in Political and Communal Projects
Jourbaneying to Socialism: Communal Experiments in the 1890s
Anarchist Utopianism in the Progressive Era
Oppositional Utopianizing and the Political/Cultural Project: The Paterson and Star of Ethiopia Pageants
From Socialist Colony to Socialist City: The Llano del Rio Experiment in California
Conclusion: The Dilemmas of Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Shor (interdisciplinary studies, Wayne State U.) explores how utopian and radical discourses of the period overflowed conventional political movements intended to restore order and economic rationalization; constructed oppositional and alternative practices, political formations, and cultural movements; and interacted with hegemonic power in ways that led to reform and the reformulation and perpetuation of that power. He takes four examples of literary expressions and four of political and communal projects. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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