Étienne Cabet and the Utopia of Icaria

Sep 25, 2024

Étienne Cabet, a French philosopher and radical visionary, sought to create a utopian community in Texas during the mid-19th century. He faced immense challenges, from land issues to health crises, while attempting to realize his dream with followers known as the Akarians. The conversation delves into the struggles and eventual divisions within the community, alongside the socio-political dynamics of the time. Cabet's influence on socialist thought and the search for communal living remains relevant today, spotlighting both dreams and realities of utopia.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 3min

Étienne Cabet: Radical Visionary

03:20 • 8min

Cabet's Utopian Vision and Its Challenges

11:45 • 6min

Struggles of the Akarians: A Quest for Utopia

18:06 • 14min

Utopian Aspirations and Emerging Divisions

31:53 • 5min

Ikarian Division and Persistence

36:32 • 12min

Cultural Roots and Utopian Dreams

48:54 • 4min

In the mid-19th century Étienne Cabet had an idea to establish a utopian society in Texas, and he moved his followers from France to do it. Things went badly, but he persisted, and established multiple communities in North America.

Research:

American Experience. “Timeline: The Early History of the Mormons.” https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormons-timeline/
Beautiful Nauvoo. “Nauvoo German-Icarian History.” https://beautifulnauvoo.com/nauvoo-german-icarian-history/
Christopher E. Guthrie, “Cabet, Étienne,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed September 04, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/cabet-etienne.
"Étienne Cabet." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631001065/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=e54772f5. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER H. "Cabet, Étienne." Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire, edited by John Merriman and Jay Winter, vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006, pp. 337-338. Gale In Context: World History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3446900127/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=2e6d79bb. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
Kagay, Donald J. “Icaria: An Aborted Utopia on the Texas Frontier.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly , April, 2013, Vol. 116, No. 4. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24388374
Last, John. “The 19th-Century Novel That Inspired a Communist Utopia on the American Frontier.” Smithsonian. 11/28/2023. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-19th-century-novel-that-inspired-a-communist-utopia-on-the-american-frontier-icarians-180983302/
Nordhoff, Charles. “The Communistic Societies of the United States From Personal Visit and Observation.” London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1875. https://www.google.it/books/edition/The_Communistic_Societies_of_the_United/EXsRAAAAYAAJ
Rousselière, Damien. “’It Was Not a Failure, and It Will One Day Be Recognized as the Only Right Social Order’. On Icarian Communism.” American Communist History, 22:1-2, 51-67, DOI: 10.1080/14743892.2022.2142020
Shaw, Albert. “Icaria : a chapter in the history of communism.” New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1884. https://archive.org/details/icariachapterinh00shaw/
Sutton, Robert P. “Etienne Cabet and the Nauvoo Icarians: The Mormon Interface.” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal , 2002. Via JSTOR. http://www.jstor.com/stable/43200389
Vallet, Emile. “Communism: history of the experiment at Nauvoo of the Icarian settlement.” Nauvoo, Illinois : Printed by The Nauvoo Rustler. 1917. https://archive.org/details/communismhistory01vall/
Wiegenstein, Steve. “The Icarians and Their Neighbors.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology , September 2006. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20853106
Winnerman, Jim. "Icarians went West in search of utopia: the colonies are long gone, but lowans recall the movement." Wild West, vol. 28, no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 20+. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A431578978/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f46ed77e. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.