Dorling, D. (2016) Review of Utopia by Thomas More, introduced by China Miéville and
concluded by Ursula Le Guin, London: Verso, Red Pepper, December.
Utopia by Thomas More
Introduced byChina Miéville and concluded byUrsula Le Guin, London: Verso
In1968UrsulaLeGuinwrotetheWizardofEarthseaforme.Iknewit,asIamsure
thousandsofotherchildrenalsoknew.Ifeltmyimaginationgrowandmyhorizons
expand.Isawmyselfinherstory.Utopiaisaboutimagination,howharditisto
imagine,butwhatimaginationcanachieve.SoplaceThomasMore’sstorybetween
thewordsoftwolivingfictionwritersandyouimaginesomethingnew.
“Utopianismisn’thope,stilllessoptimism:it
isneed,anditisdesire”declaresChina
MiévilleintheopeningessayofVerso’s
quincentenaryeditionofUtopia.Then,with
littlehope,andevenlessoptimismhebegins
asecondessaytitle‘thelimitstoUtopia’with
therecentreport(part-fundedbyNASA,no
less)thatwarnedoftheimminentcollapseof
globalcivilizationresultingfromtheclimate
changethatiscoming;animmanentcollapse
thatourunleashingofcorporatemonsters
willmake‘difficulttoavoid’. 1
ThisDecembermarks500yearssinceThomasMore’swonder.Anideasparkedin
hismindbythevoyagesoftheTheSantaMaría,NiñaandPinta–tinyships,no
biggerthanmodernspaceshipcapsules,andnamedaftersaintsandagirl.Five
hundredyearsseparate’sthosevoyagesfromtheApollomissionsandthedoomed
SchiaparelliMarsLanderthatcrashedintothedustoftheredplanetonthe
anniversaryofthefirstpublicationofMore’sutopiandreams.
Today,invesselsnamedafterancientGreek(andRoman)godsandVictorian
(Italian)astronomers,wenolongerdiscovernewworlds,butcrashintodeadred
ones,asifdesperatelyseekinganescapefromtheplanetwearecurrently
destroying.
Utopiacanbetoxic.Weliveinaprofit-maximizingworldinwhichitisrational“…for
theinstitutionsofourstatusquotodowhattheydo”.Profit-maximizationwasonce
someone’sutopiandream,someoneEuclideanrationality.Manynowdreamofa
betterworld,butoftenonlyaftertheapocalypsetocome,andthereareasmany
versionsofthatapocalypsetochoosebetweenasthereareUtopias.
ThomasMore’sUtopiaconsistedofmagnificenthousesthatwerethreestorieshigh,
withglazedglasswindowsforall.Peoplelivinginthemwear“thesamesortof
clothes,withoutanydistinctionexceptwhatisnecessarytodistinguishthetwo
sexes…”.WearelivinginthatparticularUtopiatoday.Ourparentsdidnot.They,
andalltheirforebearsbackatleasttoMore’stime,hadstricteruniformsand
traditions.
2
Lookatourclothestoday,lookatourhomestoday,readthewordsfromhalfa
millenniaagoandwonderhow,inlessthanhalfacentury,wehavechangedso
muchthatwhatwasMore’sutopianvisionisnow,formany,reality.Peopletoday
havemanytrades,theyhavesomedemocracyandyetwearestillburningupour
planetandhaveunleashedthesuitedandbootedcorporatemadmenupon
ourselves.Wheredidtheycomefrom?
“UtopiahasbeenEuclidean,ithasbeenEuropean,andithasbeenmasculine”,
concludesUrsulaLeGuinintheessaythatfollowsMore’sstoryinthis500-year
reappraisal.Andsheisright.Theutopiathatisnowhometosomuchofhumanity,
livinginmulti-storydwellings,allwearingthesamesortofclothes,isofEurope
spreadworldwide,itisofworldofstraightlinesandperfectsolids.
ForUrsulaLeGuinthemanycenturyvoyagetoUtopiapassesbyCopernicus
learningthattheearthisnotthecentre,throughDarwin’srealisationthatmanis
noteither,tosomeplacenew.Imagination,shesays,isourescaperoute.“Ithasno
placeinthevocabularyofprofitmaking”.Earthseawasachildren’sstorysetinan
imaginaryarchipelagosofislands,aplaceofmanypossibilities.ReprintingUtopia
betweencontemporystoriessucceedsbecauseitsstretchesourimaginationsto
furthershores,insearchofthefarthestshore.
DannyDorling’slatestbook,“ABetterPolitics”isavailableforfreeonlineandtobuy
onpaper:http://www.dannydorling.org/books/betterpolitics/
3