Thomas More's Utopia as a Forerunner of the Communards

Ulrich Arnswald (University of Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck)

The term 'communalism' is a little more than 150 years old. Long before that, however, Thomas More's Utopia describes a community that exhibits the characteristics of a political organizational principle based on 54 federative communes. Thus, the idea of the Communards had already been conceived and explored in a kind of thought experiment before the experiences of the Parisian Communards in 1871.   In the first book of More's Utopia extensive criticism is made of the political and social conditions in England at the time. In Morus' critique of the 16th century that had just begun, contemporaries are held up to the mirror in the form of a sharp-sighted analysis of the social and political conditions. The second book of the work reports on the fictitious island of Utopia. This part describes in particular the organization of the state and the living conditions of its inhabitants. A utopia is an idea that, while conceivable, cannot be immediately realized, and that presents a dream, a concept or a vision of a world or a time in which a new social, religious or technical order prevails. This part purports to be a draft of an allegedly ideal way of life that ensures peace and happiness for all.   Certain aspects of the utopian social life are related to the politics of the Communards: General work duty, predetermined daily routine, fixed bedtime, mealtimes, regulation of leisure time, rules for career choice and practice, renunciation of luxury and privilege, obliteration of all individuality in the dress code, common ownership and abolition of money. In addition, the apartments will be randomly swapped every ten years, so that no one has to fear disadvantages or inequalities.   The basis for the organization of the production and distribution of goods is common ownership, since the entire production and distribution process is not based on market economy principles. Utopia relies on the collective satisfaction of the needs of the community through guidance. The Communards of Utopia, on the one hand, ensure the free distribution of food and other goods and, on the other hand, prohibit the production and consumption of luxury goods. Utopia is a kind of communist paradise for workers and farmers.   To what extent is the fiction of the island of Utopia a living concept of communalist ideas? What characterizes a utopian commune as an organizational form? What dangers are associated with communalist institutions in Utopia? To what extent can a commune in Utopia substitute state regulation and control? What approaches to shared decision-making can be found in Morus' fictional island? Who represents the citizens of Utopia and in what form? To what extent does Utopia represent a sustainable society that manages its resources in harmony with nature? Does More's thought experiment provide us with a key to addressing today's pressing social and political issues? How do the culture and constitution of Utopia offer us insight into our own politics and political imaginary?