The Story of Utopias
by Lewis Mumford
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The Story of Utopias is Lewis Mumford's first book and is an engaging exploration of the development of the concept of Utopia, by one of the foremost historian and social theorists of the 20th century. Mumford begins with a survey of the major utopias, some well-known, others less so. His survey takes a look at Plato's Republic, More's Utopia, Andreæ's Christanopolis, Bacon's New Atlantis, Campanella's City of the Sun, Fourier's Phalanxes, Cabet's Icaria, Bellamy's Looking Backward, Morris' show more News from Nowhere, and finally H.G. Wells' utopian fiction. In the final portion of the book Mumford explores the prospects for Utopia and relates it to the realities of urban planning. The Story of Utopias is a great introduction to this fascinating subject. show lessTags
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In 1922 right after the war, Lewis Mumford wrote his first book, The story of utopias, covering the state of the field up until that time. When the book was reissued in 1962 with a new preface by Mumford, the text was not changed in any way and the new literature on utopia was not added. Yes, things changed in those forty years and in the next forty, but the underlying message remains – in spite of differing world events, man still strives for a perfect world, whether in escape or in reconstructing what is desired.
The book opens with a discussion of utopia, either the eutopia or good place, or the outopia or no place. (Later he discusses kakotopia or bad place, what we might call today dystopia although he never uses that term.) He show more then discusses the merits of several utopias, among them Plato’s Republic, Andreae’s Christopolis, More’s Utopia, on to Bellamy’s Looking backward and many more. From the beginning simplicity of reconstructing the world order to escape from life’s problems to complex solutions, each has roots in the society for which it was written. He also covers utopian communities in Europe and America, national utopias, and a thoughtful essay on the country house, a theme to which he will return in his later work. In addition to a bibliography, there is also an annotated list of utopias that he has discussed.
It is odd today not to see the two most famous works on utopia, Brave new world and 1984, but we see the precursors in other utopian novels. Yes, there are many more up to date books on the history of utopias but this one has a charm that makes reading it well worth the time. show less
The book opens with a discussion of utopia, either the eutopia or good place, or the outopia or no place. (Later he discusses kakotopia or bad place, what we might call today dystopia although he never uses that term.) He show more then discusses the merits of several utopias, among them Plato’s Republic, Andreae’s Christopolis, More’s Utopia, on to Bellamy’s Looking backward and many more. From the beginning simplicity of reconstructing the world order to escape from life’s problems to complex solutions, each has roots in the society for which it was written. He also covers utopian communities in Europe and America, national utopias, and a thoughtful essay on the country house, a theme to which he will return in his later work. In addition to a bibliography, there is also an annotated list of utopias that he has discussed.
It is odd today not to see the two most famous works on utopia, Brave new world and 1984, but we see the precursors in other utopian novels. Yes, there are many more up to date books on the history of utopias but this one has a charm that makes reading it well worth the time. show less
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Lewis Mumford has been referred to as one of the twentieth century's most influential "public intellectuals." A thinker and writer who denied the narrowness of academic speciality, Mumford embraced a cultural analysis that integrated technology, the natural environment, the urban environment, the individual, and the community. Although he lacked a show more formal university degree, Mumford wrote more than 30 books and 1,000 essays and reviews, which established his "organic" analysis of modern culture. His work defined the interdisciplinary studies movement, especially American studies; urban studies and city planning; architectural history; history of technology; and, most important in the present context, the interaction of science, technology, and society. Mumford was the editor of Dial, the most distinguished literary magazine of its era, and in 1920 he served as editor of Sociological Review in London and was strongly influenced by Sir Patrick Geddes, the Scottish botanist, sociologist, and town planner. In 1923, Mumford became a charter member of the Regional Planning Association of America, an experimental group that studied city problems from a regional as well as an ecological point of view. Mumford's well-known principle of "organicism" (the exploration of a cultural complex, where values, technology, individual personality, and the objective environment complement each other and together could build a world of fulfillment and beauty) was discussed in all of his work, spanning a career of nearly 70 years. Mumford's first book, The Story of Utopias (1922), introduces reliance on history to understand the present as well as to plan for the future. His books on architectural history and his works in urban studies established Mumford's reputation as the leading American critic of architecture and city planning. Each book views and analyzes the city, or built environment, in the context of form, function, and purpose within the larger culture. Mumford's books are focused on technology's role in civilization, especially "the machine" and "megatechnics." As a result, they have provided formative direction and structure to science, technology, and society studies and have established Mumford's stature as one of the foremost social critics of the twentieth century. Mumford's most profound and important analysis of technology (and the work that most directly influenced interdisciplinary technology-society studies) is the two-volume The Myth of the Machine:Volume 1, Technics and Human Development (1967), and Volume 2, The Pentagon of Power (1970). It was written following World War II (during which Mumford lost his son) after the deployment of atomic weapons by Russia and the United States, and during the arms race. This major work reflects a noticeable reinterpretation of the role of technology and a deep pessimism regarding "megatechnics," a metaphor Mumford uses for intrusive, all-encompassing systems of control and oppressive order. He views the military-industrial complex (the most horrendous "megamachine") as destroyer of the emotive and organic aspects of life. Mumford argues against the loss of personal autonomy and the organic world by electricity-based computer systems. Mumford died on January 26, 1990. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original title
- The story of utopias
- Alternate titles
- The Story of Utopias: Ideal Commonwealths and Social Myths
- Original publication date
- 1922
- Epigraph
- A map of the World that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at....
- First words
- It is a sunny day and I am sitting on the top of a mountain. Until this morning, it had been the mountain of a fairy story that was twenty centuries old.
Now, it is a mighty hill and I can feel its warm coat of white r... (show all)eindeer-moss, and if I were willing to stretch out my hand, I could pluck red berries that are in full blood.
A hundred years from now it will be gone. -Introduction, Hendrick Willem Van Loon, 1922
The word utopia stands in common usages for the ultimate in human folly or human hope - vain dreams of perfection in a Never-Never Land or rational efforts to remake man's environment and his institutions and even his own err... (show all)ing nature, so as to enrich the possibilities of the common life. Sir Thomas More, the coiner of this word, was aware of both implications. Lest anyone else should miss them, he elaborated his paradox in a quatrain which, unfortunately, has sometimes been omitted from English translations of his Utopia, the book that at last gave a name to a much earlier series of efforts to picture ideal commonwealths. -Preface
Utopia has long been another name for the unreal and the impossible. We have set utopia over against the world. As a matter of fact, it is our utopias that make the world tolerable to us: the cities and mansions that people d... (show all)ream of ae those in which hey finally live. The more that men react upon their environment and make it over after a human pattern, the more continuously do they live in utopia; but when there is a breach between the world of affairs and the overworld of utopia, we become conscious of the part that the will-to-utopia has played in our lives, and we see our utopia as a separate reality. -Chapter One - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Our final word is a counsel of perfection When that which is perfect has come, that which is imperfect will pass away.
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 321.07
- Canonical LCC
- HX806 .M7
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 321.07 — Society, government, & culture Political science Systems of governments and states Political Systems Ideal state; Utopias
- LCC
- HX806 .M7 — Social sciences Socialism. Communism. Anarchism Socialism. Communism. Anarchism Utopias. The ideal state
- BISAC
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- 186
- Popularity
- 175,866
- Reviews
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- (3.58)
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- 5 — English, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 27
- ASINs
- 8
