Has Charles Fourier's utopian socialism (and its 20th century heirs, if any) a relation with 19th century romanticism literary movement?
His ideas recall me a lot of the writings of the transcendatalist Thoreau, or the romanticist Rousseau.
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Not sure if the question is on topic. – convert Mar 26 '23 at 10:53
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@convert utopian socialism is a political ideology – Starckman Mar 26 '23 at 10:54
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Yes, but the way the question was formulated make it sound off topic for me. – convert Mar 26 '23 at 10:55
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https://www.jstor.org/stable/2707982 – James K Mar 26 '23 at 15:58
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If you search you'll find quite a few essays and theses especially from France (and Europe more generally) about the links between European Romanticism and utopian socialism. Less so Thoreau probably. – Stuart F Mar 27 '23 at 10:01
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Yes, as part of the zeitgeist of the 19th century. The yearning for an escape from the social structures of civilisation. Optimism about the future combined with a desire to return to a simpler, more perfect past.
But there are many significant differences. Classical romanticism places emphasis on the individual, the hero, the great man, or the tortured soul. Fourier's emphasis is on the community, the phalanx, into which the individual is subsumed.
James K
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"emphasis is on the community, the phalanx, into which the individual is subsumed" this is not found in romanticism? – Starckman Apr 21 '23 at 02:06
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1romanticism is not a narrowly defined political party. It is a wide cultural movement. There isn't romantic manifesto. But yeah, the typical romantic was concerned more with the individual than the community. So you can see this a part of the romantic movmement or a response to it – James K Apr 21 '23 at 05:14