Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America: 1888-1918

(Hardback)

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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.

Reviews

"Fran Shor's rich, subtle and passionate survey of a constellation of utopian texts and projects over three decades is a fabulous resource for a wide range of students, scholars and activists. Shor outdistances most predecessors in the field by his success in rooting the utopian impulse and vision in the specificities of United States culture, with special attention to issues of gender, race and class. Shor's standpoint is refreshing, too, for he combines an admirable commitment to the best ideals of the past utopian movement, with shrewd insight into problems and limitations that only a contemporary activist with an impressive mastery of recent scholarship can provide."-Alan Wald Professor of English Literature and in the Program in American Culture University of Michigan
"This is a wide and persuasive revisioning of a subject whose successor movements have repeatedly been reborn just when their critics claim to have written the sine die. Shor's understanding of the late 19th-century "evangelical socialism," its presence amidst racist shadows in the society, and its legacies for the anarchist colonies of the early 20th is more than well-informed: it puts together disparate phenomena in new ways, with much refreshing insight."-Paul Buhle Associate Professor of American Civilization Brown University
All the chapters, including the first, offer interesting examples of how utopanism and radicalism have shaped the boundaries of American hegemonies. This contribution plus the four general contributions mentioned previously make Utopianism and Radicalism a significant addition to our knowledge of American utopianism.-Utopian Studies
Readers will benefit from encountering here sources they had not known at all or had not associated with utopianism.....Shor is convincing on the proposition that we need not see utopianism as limited to the realm of impossible dreams, separate from the lived reality of Americans during (and since) the years 1888-1918.-Reviews
Shor's examination of the dialogues between these utopian/radical alternatives and the dominant hegemonies make at least four contributions to our knowledge of utopianism and radicalism, 1888-1918: his (re)discovery of neglected texts and movements; his emphasis on the variety of forms of utopianism and radicalism; his awareness of the importance of the historical contexts that shaped the dialogue; and his convincing argument that hegemony is not a static monolith....All the chapters, including the first, offer interesting examples of how utopianism and radicalism have shaped the boundaries of American hegemonies. This contribution plus the four general contributions mentioned previously make Utopianism and Radicalism a significant addition to our knowledge of American utopianism, which...extends far beyond books and speeches by well-known authors and political leaders.-Utopian Studies
The greatest value in this book lies in the choice of sites of utopian striving and the wonderfully fluent and concise descriptions Shor gives fo the plots of the novels and pageants, and, indeed, the story lines of the utopian colonies.-The Journal of American History
Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America, 1888-1918 extends the range of utopian studies; it is original, well argued, and imaginative.-Left History
"All the chapters, including the first, offer interesting examples of how utopanism and radicalism have shaped the boundaries of American hegemonies. This contribution plus the four general contributions mentioned previously make Utopianism and Radicalism a significant addition to our knowledge of American utopianism."-Utopian Studies
"Readers will benefit from encountering here sources they had not known at all or had not associated with utopianism.....Shor is convincing on the proposition that we need not see utopianism as limited to the realm of impossible dreams, separate from the lived reality of Americans during (and since) the years 1888-1918."-Reviews
"The greatest value in this book lies in the choice of sites of utopian striving and the wonderfully fluent and concise descriptions Shor gives fo the plots of the novels and pageants, and, indeed, the story lines of the utopian colonies."-The Journal of American History
"Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America, 1888-1918 extends the range of utopian studies; it is original, well argued, and imaginative."-Left History
"Shor's examination of the dialogues between these utopian/radical alternatives and the dominant hegemonies make at least four contributions to our knowledge of utopianism and radicalism, 1888-1918: his (re)discovery of neglected texts and movements; his emphasis on the variety of forms of utopianism and radicalism; his awareness of the importance of the historical contexts that shaped the dialogue; and his convincing argument that hegemony is not a static monolith....All the chapters, including the first, offer interesting examples of how utopianism and radicalism have shaped the boundaries of American hegemonies. This contribution plus the four general contributions mentioned previously make Utopianism and Radicalism a significant addition to our knowledge of American utopianism, which...extends far beyond books and speeches by well-known authors and political leaders."-Utopian Studies

Author Bio

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