Utopian World Building

[lauren$77]

So I wanted to discuss the relevance of considering the wider issues that face our society today (for e.g. climate change) in SFF novels.

I’m hoping people here will have authors they wish to discuss, but I’ll kickstart with my hero ‘Ebanezer Howard’. I realise Howard isn’t a fiction author per se but he was heavily influenced by a utopian science fiction novel written in 1888 by Edward Bellamy and he went on to write ‘Garden Cities of Tomorrow’ in 1898. A book that has heavily influenced the current British planning system and is responsible for the ‘Green Belts’ you see around our cities that prevented the urban sprawl into the countryside in the 60’s and 70’s. I don’t want to bore you all to tears, but this man was truly amazing and his socialist vision of a garden city owned and run by a community trust is revolutionary. Unfortunately his ideas were ahead of their time and have been heavily diluted over the years. They are bandied around by our current government without any true understanding of what they meant and could still mean if adopted correctly.

I’m sure there are other authors who have influenced our society today, indirectly or directly, and I would love to discuss them further.

 

[Toby Frost]

I don't know Howard at all but I do find the early Socialists interesting, mainly because of their sheer optimism. Before it became clear how terrible the Russian bloc was*, there were some very interesting books along those lines - William Morris springs to mind, as well as the last few pages of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressall, all the way back to Winstanley and the Diggers (good band name!) in the 17th century. Interesting to see how science fiction and ideas of real-world progress can be linked.

It's also interesting that there seems to be very little utopian SF now. The only things I can think of are space operas in the Culture style, where the ability for everyone to have everything they need means that there's no point squabbling over resources (although religion still rears its ugly head). But SF utopias are often somewhat sterile and dull. Is it a good idea, for instance, to give people infinite leisure time? Would life become pointless without some sort of work?

That said, I suppose you can infer a sort of utopia from the sort of things that worry SF authors. The Running Man implies that TV is becoming more violent and mean-spirited, so perhaps nicer TV would be a step in the right direction. I also think it's quite difficult to think of a world that's not just "like now, but better". I imagine that the characters I write about regard the 21st century as a sort of immoral dump, like a cross between a drugs den and the last days of Ancient Rome, but then they do have a somewhat different outlook.

*Not that this, in itself, necessarily invalidates their ideas: it merely demonstrates that the left, just like the right, could be used for good or evil ends.

 

[lauren$77]

William Morris springs to mind, as well as the last few pages of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressall, all the way back to Winstanley and the Diggers (good band name!) in the 17th century. Interesting to see how science fiction and ideas of real-world progress can be linked.

Thanks for the references Toby. I will look into these. I too am fascinated with how ideas in science fiction can be linked to the world we live in today. The Utopian vision in the early 1900's was informed by people from many different disciplines such as writers, artists, architects and politicians.

Although indirectly, Bellamy’s SF book has had a huge influence on our world today. All new towns in England are now (since 2011) required to adopt Garden City Principles, and there is a whole host of cities across the world (Canada, America and Australia) influenced by the Garden City movement.

I recently listened to Kim Stanley Robinson (SF author) speaking about climate change in a talk about “What is the Future”. Kim Stanley Robinson: Keynote Address | EXPO 1: New York He speaks about a Utopian sustainable civilisation and the crisis that humanity are now facing. I think it’s exciting to see this cross over of SF and the return of ‘Utopian’ ideals being mentioned when facing issues such as climate change and commodity capitalism.

It's also interesting that there seems to be very little utopian SF now. But SF utopias are often somewhat sterile and dull. Is it a good idea, for instance, to give people infinite leisure time? Would life become pointless without some sort of work?

I don't agree that Utopias would be dull boring places! I thought Iain Banks created a Utopian society in a number of his books. But I haven't read his stuff . I'm sure there would still be work to do! I mean perhaps a utopian society would be where people reject the strappings of modern day life, and till the land - who's to say!

I think its possible to see a direct correlation between SF influencing the world we live in today. But I guess this can't be said for Fantasy?

 

[hitmouse]

Arguably the most influential SF novel on modern society is anti-utopian: Nineteen Eighty-Four. It set bechmarks which are still very valid today.

A lot of modern aspirational utopian books and guides seem to me to be more relevant to middle class dreamers with some money and vaguely back-to-the-land, ethical neo-hippie aspirations e.g:
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency John Seymour
The River Cottage Cookbook, and The River Cottage Meat Book Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall