H.G. Wells

Patrick Parrinder

Gregory Claeys

While walking in the Swiss Alps, two English travellers fall into a space-warp, and suddenly find themselves in another world. In many ways the same as our own - even down to the characters that inhabit it - this new planet is still somehow radically different, for the two walkers are now upon a Utopian Earth controlled by a single World Government. Here, as they soon learn, all share a common language, there is sexual, economic and racial equality, and society is ruled by socialist ideals enforced by an austere, voluntary elite: the 'Samurai'. But what will the Utopians make of these new visitors from a less perfect world?

A Modern Utopia

A new biography of Karl Marx, tracing the life of this titanic figure and the legacy of his work Karl Marx remains the most influential and controversial political thinker in history. He died quietly in 1883 and a mere eleven mourners attended his funeral, but a year later he was being hailed as "the Prophet himself" whose name and writings would "endure through the ages." He has been viewed as a philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, even a literary craftsman. But who was Marx? What informed his critiques of modern society? And how are we to understand his legacy? In Marx and Marxism, Gregory Claeys, a leading historian of socialism, offers a wide-ranging, accessible account of Marx's ideas and their development, from the nineteenth century through the Russian Revolution to the present. After the collapse of the Soviet Union his reputation seemed utterly eclipsed, but now a new generation is reading and discovering Marx in the wake of the recurrent financial crises, growing social inequality, and an increasing sense of the injustice and destructiveness of capitalism. Both his critique of capitalism and his vision of the future speak across the centuries to our times, even if the questions he poses are more difficult to answer than ever.

Marx and Marxism

Since the publication of Thomas More's genre-defining work Utopia in 1516, the field of utopian literature has evolved into an ever-expanding domain. This Companion presents an extensive historical survey of the development of utopianism, from the publication of Utopia to today's dark and despairing tendency towards dystopian pessimism, epitomised by works such as George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Chapters address the difficult definition of the concept of utopia, and consider its relation to science fiction and other literary genres. The volume takes an innovative approach to the major themes predominating within the utopian and dystopian literary tradition, including feminism, romance and ecology, and explores in detail the vexed question of the purportedly 'western' nature of the concept of utopia. The reader is provided with a balanced overview of the evolution and current state of a long-standing, rich tradition of historical, political and literary scholarship.

The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature

Ütopya Edebiyati

Explores the quest for a utopian society throughout history, including examinations of the catalysts that have served as inspiration, and how the search for a utopia by developed countries has hurt third-world countries.

The History of an Idea

Searching for Utopia

Dystopia: A Natural History is the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia. Taking the term to encompass both a literary tradition of satirical works, mostly on totalitarianism, as well as real despotisms and societies in a state of disastrous collapse, this volume redefines the central concepts and the chronology of the genre and offers a paradigm-shifting understanding of the subject. Part One assesses the theory and prehistory of 'dystopia'. By contrast to utopia, conceived as promoting an ideal of friendship defined as "enhanced sociability"', dystopia is defined by estrangement, fear, and the proliferation of 'enemy' categories. A "natural history" of dystopia thus concentrates upon the centrality of the passion or emotion of fear and hatred in modern despotisms. The work of Le Bon, Freud, and others is used to show how dystopian groups use such emotions. Utopia and dystopia are portrayed not as opposites, but as extremes on a spectrum of sociability, defined by a heightened form of group identity. The prehistory of the process whereby "enemies" are demonised is explored from early conceptions of monstrosity through Christian conceptions of the devil and witchcraft, and the persecution of heresy. Part Two surveys the major dystopian moments in twentieth century despotisms, focussing in particular upon Nazi Germany, Stalinism, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Cambodia under Pol Pot. The concentration here is upon the political religion hypothesis as a key explanation for the chief excesses of communism in particular. Part Three examines literary dystopias. It commences well before the usual starting-point in the secondary literature, in anti-Jacobin writings of the 1790s. Two chapters address the main twentieth-century texts usually studied as representative of the genre, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The remainder of the section examines the evolution of the genre in the second half of the twentieth century down to the present.

A Natural History

Dystopia

Imperial Sceptics provides a highly original analysis of the emergence of opposition to the British Empire from 1850–1920. Departing from existing accounts, which have focused upon the Boer War and the writings of John Hobson, Gregory Claeys proposes a new chronology for the contours of resistance to imperial expansion. Claeys locates the impetus for such opposition in the late 1850s with the British followers of Auguste Comte. Tracing critical strands of anti-imperial thought through to the First World War, Claeys then scrutinises the full spectrum of socialist writings from the early 1880s onwards, revealing a fundamental division over whether a new conception of 'socialist imperialism' could appeal to the electorate and satisfy economic demands. Based upon extensive archival research, and utilising rare printed sources, Imperial Sceptics will prove a major contribution to our understanding of nineteenth-century political thought, shedding new light on theories of nationalism, patriotism, the state and religion.

British Critics of Empire, 1850–1920

Imperial Sceptics

Gareth Stedman Jones

This major work of academic reference provides the first comprehensive survey of political thought in Europe, North America and Asia in the century following the French Revolution. Written by a distinguished team of international scholars, this Cambridge History is the latest in a sequence of volumes firmly established as the principal reference source for the history of political thought. In a series of scholarly but accessible essays, every major theme in nineteenth-century political thought is covered, including political economy, religion, democratic radicalism, nationalism, socialism and feminism. The volume also includes studies of major figures, including Hegel, Mill, Bentham and Marx, and biographical notes on every significant thinker in the period. Of interest to students and scholars of politics and history at all levels, this volume explores seismic changes in the languages and expectations of politics accompanying political revolution, industrialisation and imperial expansion and less-noted continuities in political and social thinking.

The Cambridge History of Nineteenth-Century Political Thought

Leading historians introduce the most influential trends in thought which originated or developed in the nineteenth century.

The Cambridge Companion to Nineteenth-Century Thought

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Chartist Movement in Britain, 1838-1856, Volume 4

Dystopia: A Natural History is the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia. Taking the term to encompass both a literary tradition of satirical works, mostly on totalitarianism, as well as real despotisms and societies in a state of disastrous collapse, this volume redefines the central concepts and the chronology of the genre and offers a paradigm-shifting understanding of the subject. Part One assesses the theory and prehistory of 'dystopia'. By contrast to utopia, conceived as promoting an ideal of friendship defined as 'enhanced sociability', dystopia is defined by estrangement, fear, and the proliferation of 'enemy' categories. A 'natural history' of dystopia thus concentrates upon the centrality of the passion or emotion of fear and hatred in modern despotisms. The work of Le Bon, Freud, and others is used to show how dystopian groups use such emotions. Utopia and dystopia are portrayed not as opposites, but as extremes on a spectrum of sociability, defined by a heightened form of group identity. The prehistory of the process whereby 'enemies' are demonised is explored from early conceptions of monstrosity through Christian conceptions of the devil and witchcraft, and the persecution of heresy. Part Two surveys the major dystopian moments in twentieth century despotisms, focussing in particular upon Nazi Germany, Stalinism, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Cambodia under Pol Pot. The concentration here is upon the political religion hypothesis as a key explanation for the chief excesses of communism in particular. Part Three examines literary dystopias. It commences well before the usual starting-point in the secondary literature, in anti-Jacobin writings of the 1790s. Two chapters address the main twentieth-century texts usually studied as representative of the genre, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The remainder of the section examines the evolution of the genre in the second half of the twentieth century down to the present.

Robert Owen (1771-1858) was the founder of British socialism, and one of the most influential reformers in Britain and America in the first half of the 19th century. This book contains all Owen's key writings on the ideal community, socialism, religion, and the capitalist economic system.

The Selected Works of Robert Owen Vol IV

The Selected Works of Robert Owen Vol I

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era. This is Volume 5 of 6 includes ‘Beyond the Ice: Being a Story of the Newly Discovered Region Round the North Pole’ by George Read Murphy.

Late Victorian Utopias: A Prospectus, Volume 5

A major collection of tracts from the British utopian tradition.

Utopias of the British Enlightenment

Ποιος ήταν ο Μαρξ; Πώς διαμορφώθηκαν οι ιδέες του και γιατί έχουν διαχρονική απήχηση; Πώς εξελίχθηκε ο μαρξισμός τον 20ό αιώνα και τι σημαίνει για εμάς σήμερα; Ένα «πανόραμα» του μαρξισμού που καλύπτει όλο το ιστορικό χρονικό, τις ιδεολογικές αντιπαραθέσεις, τον συσχετισμό του με άλλες ιδεολογίες και τη θέση του στον 21o αιώνα. Ο Καρλ Μαρξ παραµένει ο πιο επιδραστικός και αµφιλεγόµενος πολιτικός στοχαστής της ιστορίας. Αν µετά την κατάρρευση της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης έµοιαζε να έχει τελείως ξεπεραστεί, µια νέα γενιά διαβάζει και ανακαλύπτει τον Μαρξ στον απόηχο των επαναλαµβανόµενων οικονοµικών κρίσεων, της αυξανόµενης ανισότητας στη σύγχρονη καπιταλιστική κοινωνία. Στο βιβλίο αυτό, ο Gregory Claeys, ένας από τους κορυφαίους Βρετανούς ιστορικούς του σοσιαλισµού, αναλογίζεται τις ιδέες του Μαρξ και την εξέλιξή τους, από τις απαρχές τους στη Ρωσική Επανάσταση και µέχρι σήµερα, εστιάζοντας ιδιαίτερα στη σχέση του πρώιµου ουµανισµού του Μαρξ µε την ύστερη σκέψη του, τον µαρξισµό ως µορφή ουτοπισµού, και το πρόβληµα του σταλινικού εκφυλισµού του µαρξισµού. «Ο Καρλ Μαρξ ήταν ο Ιησούς Χριστός του 20ού αιώνα.Την Κυριακή του Πάσχα του 1918, οι ρωσικές εφηµερίδες, που παλιότερα έγραφαν «Χριστός Ανέστη», το αντικατέστησαν µε το «Σαν σήµερα πριν από εκατό χρόνια γεννήθηκε ο Καρλ Μαρξ». Αν µάλιστα είχαν ισχυριστεί ότι είχε περπατήσει στην επιφάνεια του νερού ή ότι είχε αναστηθεί εκ νεκρών, ελάχιστοι θα είχαν εκπλαγεί. Έµοιαζε άλλωστε και µε τον Πατέρα. Ο γέρος µε την γκρίζα γενειάδα και τα απεριποίητα µαλλιά –το πορτρέτο του Μαρξ που γνωρίζουν οι περισσότεροι– έχει αρκετές οµοιότητες µε τον στρυφνό πατριάρχη, όπως τον φαντάζονται πολλοί χριστιανοί να κάθεται στον ουράνιο θρόνο του. […]

Μια εισαγωγή

Μαρξ και μαρξισμός

A collection of late 17th-century British Utopian texts written from the period 1660 until the French Revolution, including some rare pieces never before published. Themes of these works include alchemy and science, imaginary voyages, descriptions of model societies, and plans for working communities that proposed to solve the problem of poverty. An introduction looks at the ways in which texts from this period reshaped the genre, and examines the influence of the religious ferment of the Puritan revolution, the extension of scientific interests, proposals for social and constitutional reform, and the growth of exploration. Includes notes on texts and authors. Claeys teaches history at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Restoration and Augustan British Utopia

This groundbreaking new work explores modern and contemporary political thought since 1750, looking at the thinkers, concepts, debates, issues, and national traditions that have shaped political thought from the Enlightenment to post-modernism and post-structuralism. Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought is two-volume A to Z reference that provides historical context to the philosophical issues and debates that have shaped attitudes toward democracy, citizenship, rights, property, duties, justice, equality, community, law, power, gender, race, and legitimacy over the last three centuries. It profiles major and minor political thinkers, and the national traditions, both Western and non-Western, which continue to shape and divide political thought. More than 200 scholars from leading international research institutions and organizations have provided signed entries that offer comprehensive coverage of: Thought of regions and countries, including African political thought, American political thought , Australasian political thought (Australian and New Zealand), Chinese political thought, Indian political thought, Islamic political Thought, Japanese political thought, and more Thought regarding contemporary issues such as abortion, affirmative action, animal rights, European integration, feminism, humanitarian intervention, international law, race and racism, and more The ideological spectrum from Marxism to neoconservatism, including anarchism, conservatism, Darwinism and Social Darwinism, Engels, fascism, the Frankfurt School, Lenin and Leninism, socialism, and more Connections of political thought to key areas of politics and other disciplines such as economics, psychology, law, and religion Notable time periods of political thought since 1750 Concepts including class, democratic theory, liberalism, nationalism, natural and human rights, and theories of the state Theorists and political intellectuals, both Western and non-Western including John Adams, Edmund Burke, Mohandas Gandhi, Immanuel Kant, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, George Washington, and Mary Wollstonecraft

Encyclopedia of Modern Political Thought (set)

Lyman Tower Sargent

Utopianism is defined as the various ways of imagining, creating, or analyzing the ways and means of creating an ideal or alternative society. Prominent writers and scholars across history have long explored how or why to envision different ways of life. The Utopia Reader compiles primary texts from a variety of authors and movements in the history of theorizing utopias. The volume includes texts from classical Greek literature, the Old Testament, and Plato’s Republic, to Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and beyond. By balancing well-known and obscure examples, the text provides a comprehensive and definitive collection of the various ways Utopias have been conceived throughout history and how Utopian ideals have served as criticisms of existing sociocultural conditions. This new edition includes many historically well-known works, little known but influential texts, and contemporary writings, providing an even more expansive coverage of the varieties of approaches and responses to the concept of utopia in the past, present, and even the future. In particular, the volume now includes feminist writings and work by authors of color, and contends with current concerns, such as the exploration of the ecological ideals of Utopia. Furthermore, Claeys and Sargent highlight twenty-first century trends and popular narrative explorations of Utopias through the genres of young adult dystopias, survivalist dystopias, and non-print utopias. Covering a range of original theories of utopianism and revealing the nuances and concerns of writers across history as they attempt to envision different, ideal societies, The Utopia Reader is an essential resource for anyone who envisions a better future.

Gregory Claeys

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