Utopian socialism

Utopian Socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern Socialist thought. Utopian socialists never actually used this name to describe themselves; the term "utopian socialism" was introduced by Karl Marx and used by later socialist thinkers, to describe early socialist or quasi-socialist intellectuals who created hypothetical visions of perfect egalitarian and communalist societies without actually concerning themselves with the manner in which these societies could be created or sustained.

Related Topics:
Socialist - Karl Marx - Egalitarian - Communalist

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Since "utopian socialism" is a broad category rather than a specific political movement, it is difficult to define it with any degree of precision. According to some definitions, the term should be reserved to authors who published their works between the French Revolution and the mid-1830s. Other definitions push the beginning of utopian socialism much further back in time, citing such figures as Jesus among the first utopian socialists.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - 1830 - Jesus

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Although it is technically possible for any person living at any time in history to be a utopian socialist, the term is most often applied to those utopian socialists who lived in the first quarter of the 19th century. From the mid-19th century onwards, the other branches of socialism far surpassed the utopian version in terms of intellectual development and number of supporters. Utopian Socialists were important in the formation of modern movements for intentional community and cooperatives, such as Open Source and Techno communism.

Related Topics:
Intentional community - Cooperatives - Open Source - Techno communism

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The term "scientific socialism" is sometimes used by Marxists to describe their version of socialism, specifically for the purpose of counterposing it to Utopian Socialism which was descriptive and idealistic (in a sense of representing an ideal) rather than scientific, i.e., developed by means of reasoning and based on social sciences.

Related Topics:
Scientific socialism - Marxist - Social science

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