What sorts of changes did the utopian socialists advocate?

Answer 1

Utopian socialists often advocated a visionary, ideal community. Many advocated free love and open family relationships and questioned the structures and values of the existing capitalistic framework. Some such Count Claude Henri de Saint-Simon advocated rational management in which private wealth, property, and enterprise was subject to an administration, not its owners. They believed that this management of wealth (not redistribution) would alleviate the poverty and social dislocation prevalent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many others such as Robert Owen advocated enlightened management and a humane industrial environment because he believed that if human beings were placed in the correct environment, they and their character would improve. Still others such as Charles Fourier believed that human passion was ignored in the industrial order. As a result, he advocated phalanxes, communities which would replace the boredom and dullness found in industrial existence with liberated living. Here, people would never do the same work for an entire day, eliminating the problem of boredom. He also advocated an agrarian rather than industrial production and that marriage was reserved for later in life. Some utopian socialists such as Louis Blanc also advocated for an end to competition but did not seek to build a completely new society. Instead, they were more concerned with politics and advocated for political reform to give the vote to the working class, who would use the vote to their own economic advantage in the political processes.

Answer 2

As 19th century America grew larger, richer, and more diverse, it was also trying to achieve a culture that was distinct and not imitative of any in Europe. At the same time, the thirst for individual improvement had local communities creating debating clubs, library societies, and literary associations for the purpose of sharing interesting and provocative ideas. Maybe, people speculated, if any society were completely reorganized, it could be regenerated and, ultimately, perfected.