Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Like many utopian experiments, the roots of Icarianism reside in Europe. Similar to Charles Fourier and Robert Owen, the movement's founder, Etienne Cabet, was reared in the context of revolutionary upheaval. As a young man he joined the Society of the Chabonnerie, a radical republican organization opposed to the restored French monarchy. Cabet's outspoken opposition to the government earned him a conviction for treason and exile to England. While in England, Cabet became a disciple of Robert Owen and penned his major work, Voyage en Icarie (1834). The novel was modeled after Thomas More's Utopia and described in great detail the “nation” of Icaria. Similar to Utopia, Icarie was a thinly veiled attack on the corruption and inequality of Europe. The fictional nation was an egalitarian one, based on democratic principles, and the model of urban and rural planning. The elected leadership took care of the needs of all citizens, including food, housing, medical care, and entertainment. The state-managed production facilities were efficient and humane. Education was free for both sexes, organized religion was non-existent, and crime and vice had disappeared. The society blended aspects of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's protosocialism with Cabet's own Christian mysticism into a society simply governed by the Christian Golden Rule. The book was an immediate success, prompting Cabet ... log in or subscribe to read full text