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Ecotopia #1
Ecotopia
A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society.
Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “s³Ù²¹²ú±ô±ð-²õ³Ù²¹³Ù±ðâ€� ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.
Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities� to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.
Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “s³Ù²¹²ú±ô±ð-²õ³Ù²¹³Ù±ðâ€� ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.
Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities� to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.
181 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
367 people are currently reading
8,122 people want to read
About the author
Ernest Callenbach
55Ìýbooks52ÌýfollowersErnest Callenbach was an American author, film critic, editor, and simple living adherent. He became famous due to his internationally successful semi-utopian novel Ecotopia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 759 reviews
December 4, 2013
I'm a die-hard lefty and I still think this is a terrible book. It's poorly written, biased, and short-sighted propaganda. I read as much of it as I could before I just had to throw it down in disgust, and this was at a time when I was young enough believe I had to finish every book that I read. For decades this was the only book I couldn't finish.
It's really not even worth my time to review thoroughly so I'll give you just one example of how stupid and ill-conceived it is: The people are environmentalists and yet they refuse to paint or upkeep their houses because it's natural to just let the wood fall back to its natural state. Hunh?? Since when is it environmental to waste wood by letting it rot away? Oh yes, let's cut down even more trees than we already are.
I also was upset with the weird violent arena thing they had going on. I didnt get far enough to find out what that was about but it disturbed me.
About a decade ago I told a friend who loved it how much I hated the book. Years later he came up to me and told me that he had re-read it as a "full" adult and he now agreed with me: the book is junk.
Don't waste your time, read something about real change and real activism.
It's really not even worth my time to review thoroughly so I'll give you just one example of how stupid and ill-conceived it is: The people are environmentalists and yet they refuse to paint or upkeep their houses because it's natural to just let the wood fall back to its natural state. Hunh?? Since when is it environmental to waste wood by letting it rot away? Oh yes, let's cut down even more trees than we already are.
I also was upset with the weird violent arena thing they had going on. I didnt get far enough to find out what that was about but it disturbed me.
About a decade ago I told a friend who loved it how much I hated the book. Years later he came up to me and told me that he had re-read it as a "full" adult and he now agreed with me: the book is junk.
Don't waste your time, read something about real change and real activism.
July 1, 2022
Ecotopia is an extraordinarily seductive piece of writing; it offers a glimpse of a world that could be ours if we aligned our values with those of the ecototopians: it is a suggestion that we could live in a better and more environmentally driven way.
At the heart of things, Ecotopia feels like a piece of propaganda. It is a proposal for an alternative nation and an alternative way of living. And I don’t think the author tries to hide this fact; he celebrates it and he wants the world to consider the benefits of a society driven by environmentalist principles and a sense of non-attachment: it is a nation that has not fallen into the trap of consumerism. And I think it’s a unique piece of rhetoric.
Ecotopia has few rules and there is an emphasis on a return to a more natural mode of living. Sexual freedom dominates a large part of society. Individuals are not trapped in relationships but chose to spend their time with whoever they wish and flitter between people and partners. Individuals exist for themselves and their own enjoyment. Free love, emotional vulnerability and autonomy rule the day. There is this sense of the human animal, of a being that has lost a sense of modesty and societal expectations and that has kinship with the wild creatures of the earth.
"People were to be happy not to the extent they dominated their fellow creatures on earth, but to the extent they lived in balance with them"
There is little to no waste in ecotopia. There is a focus on recycling, reusing and maintaining a correct balance with the environment. The people are healthy and try to eat food they acquire themselves. Processed foods are shunned. The society is based on a hunter gatherer system, though there is also an emphasis on gender equality and freedom between the sexes. Most notably, ecotopia considers the importance of population checks. There is not some controlling government that enforces this, but the core values of the individual in society are so in lined that everyone practices responsible living. Ecotopians do not want to outstrip their resources or negatively effect their natural world.
This book is pure idealism. The world view expressed is not without its faults or limitations. There are problems here and it was clearly written with the knowledge of the environmentalist movement of the 70s. If this was written today, I don’t doubt that other environmental principles would be added. For now though, it is a curiosity and one not without merit.
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At the heart of things, Ecotopia feels like a piece of propaganda. It is a proposal for an alternative nation and an alternative way of living. And I don’t think the author tries to hide this fact; he celebrates it and he wants the world to consider the benefits of a society driven by environmentalist principles and a sense of non-attachment: it is a nation that has not fallen into the trap of consumerism. And I think it’s a unique piece of rhetoric.
Ecotopia has few rules and there is an emphasis on a return to a more natural mode of living. Sexual freedom dominates a large part of society. Individuals are not trapped in relationships but chose to spend their time with whoever they wish and flitter between people and partners. Individuals exist for themselves and their own enjoyment. Free love, emotional vulnerability and autonomy rule the day. There is this sense of the human animal, of a being that has lost a sense of modesty and societal expectations and that has kinship with the wild creatures of the earth.
"People were to be happy not to the extent they dominated their fellow creatures on earth, but to the extent they lived in balance with them"
There is little to no waste in ecotopia. There is a focus on recycling, reusing and maintaining a correct balance with the environment. The people are healthy and try to eat food they acquire themselves. Processed foods are shunned. The society is based on a hunter gatherer system, though there is also an emphasis on gender equality and freedom between the sexes. Most notably, ecotopia considers the importance of population checks. There is not some controlling government that enforces this, but the core values of the individual in society are so in lined that everyone practices responsible living. Ecotopians do not want to outstrip their resources or negatively effect their natural world.
This book is pure idealism. The world view expressed is not without its faults or limitations. There are problems here and it was clearly written with the knowledge of the environmentalist movement of the 70s. If this was written today, I don’t doubt that other environmental principles would be added. For now though, it is a curiosity and one not without merit.
___________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via .
__________________________________
November 27, 2018
ECO- from the Greek oikos (household or home)
TOPIA- from the Greek topos (place)
Ecotopia is one of the books that I'm happy to say is going to be in my brain forever. Published originally in the seventies, as a series of articles and diary notes from a journalist travelling the titular country of Ecotopia, Ernest Callenbach has managed to capture a movement and a feeling years ahead of his time. My overwhelming impression of this book is one of optimism and hope; belief in the better nature of humankind, even if we need things reduced to the personal scale to achieve it.
I could quote the whole thing - my list of highlights is both impressive and daunting - but I really feel I'm better serving other potential readers by simply urging them to read it and discover those moments of brilliance for themselves. Yes, there are some naive or old-fashioned sections, but the majority of this book would be considered too progressive for some even today. Native Americans are given short shrift; they clearly exist but are not mentioned as a part of the world of the novel. I can see the complications this would have brought to what is otherwise a comprehensive look at an alternative society, but I can't argue in favour of just ignoring an entire people simply because they're hard to include. But again - it was the seventies, and that's one of the few areas that shows its age so badly.
And what Ernest Callenbach does well, he does really well. Gender equality, government-subsidised minimum standards of living, the movement towards a reduction in standard working hours, many different ecological movements - they're all mentioned here, as well as so many more progressive and equalitarian ideals. Maybe it only works because it's fictionalised, but I'd like to think we're at least moving in that direction, as a whole, slow though our progress might be. This book gives me hope that there are more people out there who would like to see the same.
TOPIA- from the Greek topos (place)
Ecotopia is one of the books that I'm happy to say is going to be in my brain forever. Published originally in the seventies, as a series of articles and diary notes from a journalist travelling the titular country of Ecotopia, Ernest Callenbach has managed to capture a movement and a feeling years ahead of his time. My overwhelming impression of this book is one of optimism and hope; belief in the better nature of humankind, even if we need things reduced to the personal scale to achieve it.
I could quote the whole thing - my list of highlights is both impressive and daunting - but I really feel I'm better serving other potential readers by simply urging them to read it and discover those moments of brilliance for themselves. Yes, there are some naive or old-fashioned sections, but the majority of this book would be considered too progressive for some even today. Native Americans are given short shrift; they clearly exist but are not mentioned as a part of the world of the novel. I can see the complications this would have brought to what is otherwise a comprehensive look at an alternative society, but I can't argue in favour of just ignoring an entire people simply because they're hard to include. But again - it was the seventies, and that's one of the few areas that shows its age so badly.
And what Ernest Callenbach does well, he does really well. Gender equality, government-subsidised minimum standards of living, the movement towards a reduction in standard working hours, many different ecological movements - they're all mentioned here, as well as so many more progressive and equalitarian ideals. Maybe it only works because it's fictionalised, but I'd like to think we're at least moving in that direction, as a whole, slow though our progress might be. This book gives me hope that there are more people out there who would like to see the same.
June 17, 2024
1975’s Vision of Sustainability in the US�
Preamble:
--I’m so far behind on reviews, so why not set the bar high for 2024?
…This book synthesizes so much of what I’m currently prioritizing:
i) Constructive alternatives (including big picture political economy), rather than just deconstructive critiques (like Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?).
ii) Accessible writing (engaging story-telling).
iii) Insightful context (written in the US in 1975 at the end of the US war on Vietnam, after the 1971 Nixon Shock and 1973 First Oil Shock).
--The story takes place 20 years after “Ecotopia� (formerly Washington/Oregon/Northern California) secedes from the US, through the eyes (and evolving perspectives) of a US journalist investigating this protective haven.
...I’ve grown up in the Pacific Northwest, so this reminds me of the which shifts the bioregional boundaries north to include Canada’s British Columbia province (to be clear, I only heard about this “movement� in an obscure reference).
--In the real world, the author channels the “People’s Republic of Berkley� progressivism in this book, which apparently influenced Green parties in the Global North (esp. Germany’s).
...Unfortunately for the US in the real world, Nixon’s presidency (1969-1974) marked the last of welfare compromises (Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration) as Wall Street was unleashed following the Nixon shock (A Brief History of Neoliberalism).
…Only recently has the US seen any signs of a progressive revival, with the Global Justice Movement (1999 Seattle WTO protests)/Occupy Wall Street (2011)/Bernie Sanders campaigns/Sunrise Movement.
Highlights:
--I’ll skip the story/characters and unpack the nonfiction ideas:
1) Pragmatic Survival rather than Utopia:
--How is the basic responsibility of “s³Ü²õ³Ù²¹¾±²Ô²¹²ú¾±±ô¾±³Ù²ââ€� so radical/utopic to consider? Well, it turns out “capitalismâ€� is the creation that we have lost control of, haunting our social imagination from 1818’s Frankenstein to 1936’s Modern Times (featuring Charlie Chaplin) to 1999’s The Matrix.
--Capitalism must feed the increasing appetite of the 1%, as these top capitalists dictate investments in capitalist markets (one-dollar-one-vote). "All that is solid melts into air", as capitalism’s value system is driven by market exchange-value (price, seeking profits/rent), obscuring use-value (qualitative; social needs) and socioecological relationships.
…This game’s cancerous logic promotes extremist short-termism (financial trading in nanoseconds, boom/bust speculation, quarterly returns), staggering inequalities (passive income, where money does grow on trees) and “out of sight, out of mind� apathy where socioecological costs are externalized from market prices. I unpack this in reviewing A Companion to Marx's Capital
--Thus, Ecotopia starts with pragmatic survival: learning how things work (esp. production), building a culture of fixing things, cooperation and social organisation, and learning to live with our contradictions (rather than expecting utopic perfection).
--The book’s symbolic example of building a “s³Ù²¹²ú±ô±ð-²õ³Ù²¹³Ù±ðâ€� ecological system is recycling waste (food waste/sewage/garbage) into organic fertilizers. Waste is a clear example of capitalism’s “out of sight, out of mindâ€� logic, starting with the decimation of the public's standard of living during the rise of capitalism’s Mordor-esque industrialization/“dark Satanic millsâ€�/urban slums. It took proto-socialist struggles to win the bare minimum of sanitary disposal (note: this is still not recycling):
…The assumptions unchallenged are capitalism’s historic levels of inequality/waste/manufacturing of wants (Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System), which are flattened and normalized as “human nature�; even if we do not all currently consume like billionaires, the assumption is we aim to. It’s convenient how mainstream systems-thinkers refuse to examine the capitalist system.
See comments below for the rest of the review�
Preamble:
--I’m so far behind on reviews, so why not set the bar high for 2024?
…This book synthesizes so much of what I’m currently prioritizing:
i) Constructive alternatives (including big picture political economy), rather than just deconstructive critiques (like Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?).
ii) Accessible writing (engaging story-telling).
iii) Insightful context (written in the US in 1975 at the end of the US war on Vietnam, after the 1971 Nixon Shock and 1973 First Oil Shock).
--The story takes place 20 years after “Ecotopia� (formerly Washington/Oregon/Northern California) secedes from the US, through the eyes (and evolving perspectives) of a US journalist investigating this protective haven.
...I’ve grown up in the Pacific Northwest, so this reminds me of the which shifts the bioregional boundaries north to include Canada’s British Columbia province (to be clear, I only heard about this “movement� in an obscure reference).
--In the real world, the author channels the “People’s Republic of Berkley� progressivism in this book, which apparently influenced Green parties in the Global North (esp. Germany’s).
...Unfortunately for the US in the real world, Nixon’s presidency (1969-1974) marked the last of welfare compromises (Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration) as Wall Street was unleashed following the Nixon shock (A Brief History of Neoliberalism).
…Only recently has the US seen any signs of a progressive revival, with the Global Justice Movement (1999 Seattle WTO protests)/Occupy Wall Street (2011)/Bernie Sanders campaigns/Sunrise Movement.
Highlights:
--I’ll skip the story/characters and unpack the nonfiction ideas:
1) Pragmatic Survival rather than Utopia:
--How is the basic responsibility of “s³Ü²õ³Ù²¹¾±²Ô²¹²ú¾±±ô¾±³Ù²ââ€� so radical/utopic to consider? Well, it turns out “capitalismâ€� is the creation that we have lost control of, haunting our social imagination from 1818’s Frankenstein to 1936’s Modern Times (featuring Charlie Chaplin) to 1999’s The Matrix.
--Capitalism must feed the increasing appetite of the 1%, as these top capitalists dictate investments in capitalist markets (one-dollar-one-vote). "All that is solid melts into air", as capitalism’s value system is driven by market exchange-value (price, seeking profits/rent), obscuring use-value (qualitative; social needs) and socioecological relationships.
…This game’s cancerous logic promotes extremist short-termism (financial trading in nanoseconds, boom/bust speculation, quarterly returns), staggering inequalities (passive income, where money does grow on trees) and “out of sight, out of mind� apathy where socioecological costs are externalized from market prices. I unpack this in reviewing A Companion to Marx's Capital
--Thus, Ecotopia starts with pragmatic survival: learning how things work (esp. production), building a culture of fixing things, cooperation and social organisation, and learning to live with our contradictions (rather than expecting utopic perfection).
--The book’s symbolic example of building a “s³Ù²¹²ú±ô±ð-²õ³Ù²¹³Ù±ðâ€� ecological system is recycling waste (food waste/sewage/garbage) into organic fertilizers. Waste is a clear example of capitalism’s “out of sight, out of mindâ€� logic, starting with the decimation of the public's standard of living during the rise of capitalism’s Mordor-esque industrialization/“dark Satanic millsâ€�/urban slums. It took proto-socialist struggles to win the bare minimum of sanitary disposal (note: this is still not recycling):
It wasn’t until nearly 400 years later [since capitalist privatizations at home in Britain, i.e. the Enclosures starting in 1500s] that life expectancies in Britain finally began to rise. […] It happened slightly later in the rest of Europe, while in the colonised world longevity »å¾±»å²Ô’t begin to improve until the early 1900s [decolonization]. So if [capitalist economic] growth itself does not have an automatic relationship with life expectancy and human welfare, what could possibly explain this trend?…While domestic workers organized bargaining power to improve their workplaces/cities, global capitalism continued its cancerous extraction “out of sightâ€� in peripheral environments/colonized poor. Eco-socialists will know that Marx warned of (what is now termed) the “metabolic riftâ€�:
Historians today point out that it began with a startlingly simple intervention […]: [public] sanitation. In the middle of the 1800s, public health researchers had discovered that health outcomes could be improved by introducing simple sanitation measures, such as separating sewage from drinking water. All it required was a bit of public plumbing. But public plumbing requires public works, and public money. You have to appropriate private land for things like public water pumps and public baths. And you have to be able to dig on private property in order to connect tenements and factories to the system. This is where the problems began. For decades, progress towards the goal of public sanitation was opposed, not enabled, by the capitalist class. Libertarian-minded landowners refused to allow officials to use their property [note: the Enclosures required state violence to privatize land], and refused to pay the taxes required to get it done.
The resistance of these elites was broken only once commoners won the right to vote and workers organised into unions. Over the following decades these movements, which in Britain began with the Chartists and the Municipal Socialists, leveraged the state to intervene against the capitalist class. They fought for a new vision: that cities should be managed for the good of everyone, not just for the few. These movements delivered not only public sanitation systems but also, in the years that followed, public healthcare, vaccination coverage, public education, public housing, better wages and safer working conditions. According to research by the historian Simon Szreter, access to these public goods � which were, in a way, a new kind of commons [social Commons] � had a significant positive impact on human health, and spurred soaring life expectancy through the twentieth century. [Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World]
Capitalist production collects the population together in great centres [concentration of production], and causes the urban population to achieve an ever-growing preponderance. This has two results. On the one hand it concentrates the historical motive power of society [urban working-class, i.e. proletariat]; on the other hand, it disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and the earth, i.e. it prevents the return to the soil of its constituent elements consumed by man in the form of food and clothing; hence it hinders the operation of the eternal natural condition for the lasting fertility of the soil. […] Moreover, all progress in capitalist agriculture is a progress in the art, not only of robbing the worker, but of robbing the soil; all progress in increasing the fertility of the soil for a given time is a progress towards ruining the more long-lasting sources of that fertility. […] Capitalist production, therefore, only develops the techniques and the degree of combination of the social process of production by simultaneously undermining the original sources of all wealth � the soil and the worker. [Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, Ch.15 section 10; emphases added]…Today, normalizers of capitalism like Bill Gates (How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need) refer to his favourite author Vaclav Smil (How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future) to dismiss such critiques/alternatives as regressively primitivist and point to the scale of capitalism’s adaptations via technological innovations, in this case inorganic/synthetic fertilizers (Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production).
…The assumptions unchallenged are capitalism’s historic levels of inequality/waste/manufacturing of wants (Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System), which are flattened and normalized as “human nature�; even if we do not all currently consume like billionaires, the assumption is we aim to. It’s convenient how mainstream systems-thinkers refuse to examine the capitalist system.
See comments below for the rest of the review�
March 9, 2009
This is one of the most important books ever written -- no joke. Callenbach, writing in the early-mid 1970s, imagines that Washington, Oregon, and Northern California have seceded from the Union to form Ecotopia, a new nation based on "stable-state" (today, we call it "sustainable") practices in manufacturing, agriculture, construction, transportation -- the whole gamut.
Some of Callenbach's ideas are dated, and feel like they should have been -- and were -- left behind in the 70s. This is a novel, but its structure is a gimmick, really. The protagonist is Will Weston, a reporter for the New York Times-Post who is the first American to travel to Ecotopia, nineteen years after secession. Half the chapters are his formal reports for the newspaper, the other half -- in italics -- are his personal journals.
The formal reports lay out how the society runs -- this is the more important stuff in the novel. The journals cover Weston's inner conflict -- he is very skeptical of the whole thing, but the lumberjack girl with the "animal" sexuality, well, she breaks that down a bit. These chapters sometimes devolve into puerile hippie sex fantasy. This isn't just an ecological utopia, but the Full Berkeley -- free love, ganjaburning on the high-speed mag-lev train from Tahoe to SF (suck it, Bobby Jindal!), even a 1:1 nurse-patient ratio in hospitals, complete with happy ending.
Much of what's here we take for granted today, at least in San Francisco -- sorted recycling bins (check), biodegradable plastics (check), round-the-bay electric rail link (check), female political leadership (Boxer -- check! Feinstein -- check! Pelosi -- check!) legal marijuana and a Market Street closed to cars and replanted with trees (coming soon!)
What's so incredible is that I last taught this book maybe in 2002 -- and much, much more of reality has aligned with Callenbach's vision since.
Ecotopia is, for environmentalists, what Star Trek has been to physicists and astronomers and astronauts since just a few years earlier -- the map that points the way to the next frontier.
Read it, and read Obama's recent joint address to Congress. Start at "it begins with energy" on page 3 of the NYT transcript, linked below:
Ratings: five stars for the vision, three for the fiction.
Some of Callenbach's ideas are dated, and feel like they should have been -- and were -- left behind in the 70s. This is a novel, but its structure is a gimmick, really. The protagonist is Will Weston, a reporter for the New York Times-Post who is the first American to travel to Ecotopia, nineteen years after secession. Half the chapters are his formal reports for the newspaper, the other half -- in italics -- are his personal journals.
The formal reports lay out how the society runs -- this is the more important stuff in the novel. The journals cover Weston's inner conflict -- he is very skeptical of the whole thing, but the lumberjack girl with the "animal" sexuality, well, she breaks that down a bit. These chapters sometimes devolve into puerile hippie sex fantasy. This isn't just an ecological utopia, but the Full Berkeley -- free love, ganjaburning on the high-speed mag-lev train from Tahoe to SF (suck it, Bobby Jindal!), even a 1:1 nurse-patient ratio in hospitals, complete with happy ending.
Much of what's here we take for granted today, at least in San Francisco -- sorted recycling bins (check), biodegradable plastics (check), round-the-bay electric rail link (check), female political leadership (Boxer -- check! Feinstein -- check! Pelosi -- check!) legal marijuana and a Market Street closed to cars and replanted with trees (coming soon!)
What's so incredible is that I last taught this book maybe in 2002 -- and much, much more of reality has aligned with Callenbach's vision since.
Ecotopia is, for environmentalists, what Star Trek has been to physicists and astronomers and astronauts since just a few years earlier -- the map that points the way to the next frontier.
Read it, and read Obama's recent joint address to Congress. Start at "it begins with energy" on page 3 of the NYT transcript, linked below:
Ratings: five stars for the vision, three for the fiction.
June 27, 2024
(6 January, 2015)
Terrible, just terrible. Demeaning to men and women alike, very dated with racist and sexist overtones, seemed written by a pre-pubescent idiot with zero understanding of basic human emotions and motivations � with very little political and economic acumen to boot. This fool equates superficial sex to deep feelings, likens it to true love and thinks a strong, powerful woman would 'tolerate' being raped (and is glib about it), disgusting!
Almost everything here is a stereotype of some kind (70s style), coated with a thin gloss of what passes as innovative and progressive thought. Save yourself some time and scratch your ass for a few hours instead of reading this ‘novel�.
Terrible, just terrible. Demeaning to men and women alike, very dated with racist and sexist overtones, seemed written by a pre-pubescent idiot with zero understanding of basic human emotions and motivations � with very little political and economic acumen to boot. This fool equates superficial sex to deep feelings, likens it to true love and thinks a strong, powerful woman would 'tolerate' being raped (and is glib about it), disgusting!
Almost everything here is a stereotype of some kind (70s style), coated with a thin gloss of what passes as innovative and progressive thought. Save yourself some time and scratch your ass for a few hours instead of reading this ‘novel�.
November 26, 2018
“Ecotopians have the feeling of never being alone.�
This classic read as if it had been written yesterday.
That is beautiful.
That is sad.
Because I could have been living in Ecotopia instead of reading it.
Sexual equality, sustainability, 3D printing, FaceTime, community, guilt avoidance warfare, recycling, solar power, environmental harmony, social justice, and my personal favorite - the revision of the Protestant work ethic.
All the important issues being discussed today were addressed here in the 70s. Ernest Callenbach wrote a blue print to a better world.
Everyone needs to pick up a copy.
September 28, 2021
Ecotopia is set in the year 1999, some twenty years after Northern California, Oregon, and Washington break away from the rest of USA to become Ecotopia. The American journalist William Weston goes to Ecotopia to investigate this closed country that has taken a radical turn towards more ecologically sustainable way of life.
On the surface this book should be right up my alley, but it has left me with very mixed emotions. On one hand this built up as most utopian fiction, and in travel books as well, the narrator describes the country he is visiting. The danger that is built into this narrative form is that it may become more static than if it was more concerned with what is happening to the narrator. I feel like this happens here. The descriptions of the country outweigh the experience of the character in this country, which means I never really feel that close to the narrator even though he narrates the whole thing.
But in the other hand there are a lot of interesting ideas at play in the descriptions of the country. The idea of universal basic income is here, there is a lot of talk of recycling, and co operation. The people in Ecotopia are very much in each other’s lives, and one can’t really see an epidemic of loneliness breaking out in this place. One phrase that really sticks with me is “preventative transport� which refers to cycling. It may sound strange way to talk of cycling, but think of it this way, it is related to preventative medicine. Cycling means exercise. So unlike sitting in cars, cycling is to some degree preventative to certain diseases, for example heart disease. There is a lot of thoughtful ideas like these here, which often makes this a fascinating read.
It is first published in 1975, and it feels very much like a hippy novel. The attitude of sex in Ecotopia is for example very much a flower power thing. So it really shows its age. Another thing that hasn’t aged all that gracefully is the way race is talked about. It’s not a big part of the narrative, but it’s there. A lot of the ecological is so relevant today, and some of the discussions of that feels like it could have been written today, but the racial stuff feels old.
Historically, this book is very important. It became a bestseller in its time, and helped launch modern eco fiction as a genre. And I think this read may stay with me for a long time, but I’m still not sure what I think of it as a whole. It is interesting, and often quite beautiful, but it is not exciting. It feels like looking at a painting, rather than watching a movie, and the ending was just kind of awkward. I’m glad I read it though. It is an interesting view of the future, even though that future has already passed.
On the surface this book should be right up my alley, but it has left me with very mixed emotions. On one hand this built up as most utopian fiction, and in travel books as well, the narrator describes the country he is visiting. The danger that is built into this narrative form is that it may become more static than if it was more concerned with what is happening to the narrator. I feel like this happens here. The descriptions of the country outweigh the experience of the character in this country, which means I never really feel that close to the narrator even though he narrates the whole thing.
But in the other hand there are a lot of interesting ideas at play in the descriptions of the country. The idea of universal basic income is here, there is a lot of talk of recycling, and co operation. The people in Ecotopia are very much in each other’s lives, and one can’t really see an epidemic of loneliness breaking out in this place. One phrase that really sticks with me is “preventative transport� which refers to cycling. It may sound strange way to talk of cycling, but think of it this way, it is related to preventative medicine. Cycling means exercise. So unlike sitting in cars, cycling is to some degree preventative to certain diseases, for example heart disease. There is a lot of thoughtful ideas like these here, which often makes this a fascinating read.
It is first published in 1975, and it feels very much like a hippy novel. The attitude of sex in Ecotopia is for example very much a flower power thing. So it really shows its age. Another thing that hasn’t aged all that gracefully is the way race is talked about. It’s not a big part of the narrative, but it’s there. A lot of the ecological is so relevant today, and some of the discussions of that feels like it could have been written today, but the racial stuff feels old.
Historically, this book is very important. It became a bestseller in its time, and helped launch modern eco fiction as a genre. And I think this read may stay with me for a long time, but I’m still not sure what I think of it as a whole. It is interesting, and often quite beautiful, but it is not exciting. It feels like looking at a painting, rather than watching a movie, and the ending was just kind of awkward. I’m glad I read it though. It is an interesting view of the future, even though that future has already passed.
February 25, 2019
Fundamentally, this book is an interesting thought experiment which, when read over thirty years later, really shows its age. The concept of a nation-state primarily focused on sustainability is intriguing, and the framework of Will Weston’s newspaper articles interspersed with his personal diary was, I think, a good choice to showcase his internal conflict. However - and entirely unsurprisingly - Callenbach’s handling of issues such as race, gender, and sexual expression feel awkward at best and offensive at worst.
By far the biggest consistent problem I had with the book was the fact that the Ecotopians supposedly idolize Native Americans, but it takes until page 151 of this 167 page book - 90% of the way through - for their continued existence to be even mentioned. For most of the book I was concerned that they were going to justâ€� be this tragic, lost noble savage stereotype, and even the eventual passing reference »å¾±»å²Ô’t really dispel that idea. Much like the existence of African Americans in Ecotopia, Native populations felt like the merest afterthought; and reading that in the age of intersectionality, when modern progressive ecology is increasingly focused on restoration as a part of racial justice and the importance of stakeholder involvement - well, it »å¾±»å²Ô’t ring true whatsoever.
Callenbach was, I think, a bit closer to the mark on gender, sexuality, and family structure, though he still described a discrete, binary set of gender stereotypes. He does use his characters to question the merits of the ‘nuclear family� (just parents and their children) over larger living groups, and repeatedly addresses the issue of repressed emotions in American masculinity. He portrays Ecotopian women in a very second-wave-feminism sort of manner, but emphasizes a lot that they’re still attractive in ‘feminine� ways, and that they are generally very sexually available and experienced. Ecotopian society, also, is structured in a sort of ‘separate but equal� gender paradigm, where there are certain things that are exclusively done by one gender or another, and no mention of anyone trying to cross these boundaries. Though there is a mention of same-sex couples being present and accepted, I remain unsure if that acceptance would extend to the rest of the LGBTQ+ acronym.
Overall, Callenbach’s social theorizing came out to something like a societal paleo diet - presented as if, by being closer to the primitive, it is good for everyone, without acknowledging the variation between individuals that means there can be no one-size-fits-all solution.
From a purely narrative standpoint, I was more than a little disappointed. Fundamentally, the plot is about Will Weston’s conversion to the Ecotopian viewpoint (this really isn’t a spoiler; it’d be a spoiler if he »å¾±»å²Ô’t end up staying), but Callenbach keeps dropping references to events that could be significant and then going nowhere with them. Ecotopia is up in arms about incoming pollution, with talks about sending someone to investigate the source? Never mentioned again. It felt so profoundly like a Chekov’s Gun that I kept waiting for it to come back, but no - follow-through was not to be.
I would have liked to have seen a lot more detail and a lot less sweeping assumptions about technological development. This book was written before the devastating 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption in Washington state, but I kept finding myself wondering how that would have affected Ecotopia, or what it would have looked like had it not been set in a resource-rich area with a Mediterranean climate. It’s a lot easier to speculate about a utopian eco-state when your territory includes the Central Valley - not to mention agriculture and ranching in Washington and Oregon, or the rich marine resources off the coast of these states. A stronger sociopolitical case would have been made by setting Ecotopia in a region with more logistical difficulties, or by engaging with the potential for those difficulties to a degree. And I’m pretty sure this book wasn’t meant to be an argument so much as an aspiration, but not addressing details leaves its premise - and the commendable ideals underlying it - far more open to critique than it needs to be.
By far the biggest consistent problem I had with the book was the fact that the Ecotopians supposedly idolize Native Americans, but it takes until page 151 of this 167 page book - 90% of the way through - for their continued existence to be even mentioned. For most of the book I was concerned that they were going to justâ€� be this tragic, lost noble savage stereotype, and even the eventual passing reference »å¾±»å²Ô’t really dispel that idea. Much like the existence of African Americans in Ecotopia, Native populations felt like the merest afterthought; and reading that in the age of intersectionality, when modern progressive ecology is increasingly focused on restoration as a part of racial justice and the importance of stakeholder involvement - well, it »å¾±»å²Ô’t ring true whatsoever.
Callenbach was, I think, a bit closer to the mark on gender, sexuality, and family structure, though he still described a discrete, binary set of gender stereotypes. He does use his characters to question the merits of the ‘nuclear family� (just parents and their children) over larger living groups, and repeatedly addresses the issue of repressed emotions in American masculinity. He portrays Ecotopian women in a very second-wave-feminism sort of manner, but emphasizes a lot that they’re still attractive in ‘feminine� ways, and that they are generally very sexually available and experienced. Ecotopian society, also, is structured in a sort of ‘separate but equal� gender paradigm, where there are certain things that are exclusively done by one gender or another, and no mention of anyone trying to cross these boundaries. Though there is a mention of same-sex couples being present and accepted, I remain unsure if that acceptance would extend to the rest of the LGBTQ+ acronym.
Overall, Callenbach’s social theorizing came out to something like a societal paleo diet - presented as if, by being closer to the primitive, it is good for everyone, without acknowledging the variation between individuals that means there can be no one-size-fits-all solution.
From a purely narrative standpoint, I was more than a little disappointed. Fundamentally, the plot is about Will Weston’s conversion to the Ecotopian viewpoint (this really isn’t a spoiler; it’d be a spoiler if he »å¾±»å²Ô’t end up staying), but Callenbach keeps dropping references to events that could be significant and then going nowhere with them. Ecotopia is up in arms about incoming pollution, with talks about sending someone to investigate the source? Never mentioned again. It felt so profoundly like a Chekov’s Gun that I kept waiting for it to come back, but no - follow-through was not to be.
I would have liked to have seen a lot more detail and a lot less sweeping assumptions about technological development. This book was written before the devastating 1980 Mount Saint Helens eruption in Washington state, but I kept finding myself wondering how that would have affected Ecotopia, or what it would have looked like had it not been set in a resource-rich area with a Mediterranean climate. It’s a lot easier to speculate about a utopian eco-state when your territory includes the Central Valley - not to mention agriculture and ranching in Washington and Oregon, or the rich marine resources off the coast of these states. A stronger sociopolitical case would have been made by setting Ecotopia in a region with more logistical difficulties, or by engaging with the potential for those difficulties to a degree. And I’m pretty sure this book wasn’t meant to be an argument so much as an aspiration, but not addressing details leaves its premise - and the commendable ideals underlying it - far more open to critique than it needs to be.
April 18, 2007
fun because it takes place mostly in the San Fransico bay area, this is an increadible vision of the future for people who have ever had a dream of living sustainably. California, Oregon, and Washington, seccede from the USA and become their own country. after 20 years of no contact and a small defensive battle for independence (hard to hear for pacificts that this is probably what would happen), a reporter from the East part of the remaining USA visits "Ecotopia" (the name of the new nation), to report the new countries lifestlyle and to make reparations for relations. The philosophies are wildly ecentric, and idealistic, but often very inspiring and uplifting.
June 5, 2012
I went into Ecotopia not expecting much in the way of serious character studies or deeds of derring-do. What I expected was a typical utopian/dystopian novel where the author focuses on describing the virtues or faults of their imagined society at the relative expense of all else; and I wasn’t disappointed.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how well the novel read.
It’s constructed as a series of articles and diary entries written by William Weston, the first American (officially) allowed to enter Ecotopia, the nation created 20 years previously by the secession of Washington, Oregon and northern California. The articles describe Ecotopian society, which is based around the ideal of a sustainable, modern society radically different from the growth-oriented, extractive society we’re currently saddled with. The diary chronicles William’s immersion in Ecotopian life and culminates in a near-religious epiphany, where he realizes he can’t return to the United States.
Strictly speaking, Ecotopia is neither a utopia nor a dystopia. It’s quite clear which society Callenbach prefers but there are numerous instances where the narrative points out the problems that persist in this new society, and the struggle to achieve a constantly shifting balance. And there are some aspects that may be problematic to the reader:
Segregation of races/cultures (side effect [in the book] of the drive toward decentralization and regionalism)
Ritual warfare (though compare 's or the Wild Continents of 's )
Moving too far toward communalism? (for which I’m personally ill-suited but which seems preferable to the ultra-atomization of modern culture)
Continued flirtation with nuclear power
Callenbach’s effort doesn’t attempt to explain Ecotopia’s economy or schools or social relationships in great detail but it does compel readers (whatever bias they bring to the book) to think about the costs that our consumption-driven, growth-oriented, violent culture extracts from both people and planet. (I will admit that the author is preaching to the choir in my case - given the choice, I would happily emigrate.)
Not “highly� recommended, perhaps, but definitely recommended if your interested in the utopia/dystopia genre or environmental concerns.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how well the novel read.
It’s constructed as a series of articles and diary entries written by William Weston, the first American (officially) allowed to enter Ecotopia, the nation created 20 years previously by the secession of Washington, Oregon and northern California. The articles describe Ecotopian society, which is based around the ideal of a sustainable, modern society radically different from the growth-oriented, extractive society we’re currently saddled with. The diary chronicles William’s immersion in Ecotopian life and culminates in a near-religious epiphany, where he realizes he can’t return to the United States.
Strictly speaking, Ecotopia is neither a utopia nor a dystopia. It’s quite clear which society Callenbach prefers but there are numerous instances where the narrative points out the problems that persist in this new society, and the struggle to achieve a constantly shifting balance. And there are some aspects that may be problematic to the reader:
Segregation of races/cultures (side effect [in the book] of the drive toward decentralization and regionalism)
Ritual warfare (though compare 's or the Wild Continents of 's )
Moving too far toward communalism? (for which I’m personally ill-suited but which seems preferable to the ultra-atomization of modern culture)
Continued flirtation with nuclear power
Callenbach’s effort doesn’t attempt to explain Ecotopia’s economy or schools or social relationships in great detail but it does compel readers (whatever bias they bring to the book) to think about the costs that our consumption-driven, growth-oriented, violent culture extracts from both people and planet. (I will admit that the author is preaching to the choir in my case - given the choice, I would happily emigrate.)
Not “highly� recommended, perhaps, but definitely recommended if your interested in the utopia/dystopia genre or environmental concerns.
August 31, 2023
Il dubbio, l'errore e la casualità , cosa sono? Io penso che siano gli elementi fondanti di un essere senziente, senza di essi un qualsiasi essere umano, risulterebbe un robot o lobotomizzato.
Ecco il dubbio, analizzandolo per primo, mi fa riandare alle scoperte scientifiche, quante di queste si sono sviluppate dal dubbio, senza di esso, le scienze sarebbero sterili. L'errore: va di pari passo con il dubbio, quando si sbaglia ci viene subito il dubbio che qualcosa non sia andato a buon fine. La massima: "sbagliando s'impara" è incontrovertibile. L'esperienza è come uno zaino che ci portiamo dietro da quando nasciamo e lo riempiamo durante tutta la vita, principalmente con i nostri errori.
Infine la casualità : il caso è ciò la scintilla che ha dato la vita, ha dato inizio all'universo, le stelle, tutto è nato dal caso.
Tutta questa premessa, per introdurre il libro che ho appena finito di leggere: "Ecotopia" di Ernest Callenbach.
Siamo in là nel futuro, ma non troppo e dopo vari avvenimenti, più o meno piacevoli, si è creato un nuovo paese indipendente, appunto Ecotopia.
Un giornalista degli Stati Uniti, mandato dal governo centrale ad indagare su quel paese, scoprirà pian piano un luogo ed una società , tanto millantata come estremista e da estirpare da parte degli Stati Uniti, che lo affascina e...
Non sono molto attratto dalle utopie, cioè quelle narrazioni che raccontano di luoghi e stili di vita che dovrebbero essere giusti o comunque auspicabili per un sano e quieto vivere, nel rispetto di tutto e tutti.
Prima di questa lettura, mi ero imbattutto in "Utopia" di Thomas More e quel racconto mi era sembrato più una distopia che il contrario, ma questa è un'altra storia.
Così approdo in "Ecotopia". La struttura narrativa è divisa in due parti distinte, ma anche collegate che si intrecciano comunque bene. Distinte perchè, una parte è un saggio divulgativo di ecologia, mascherato da racconto di viaggio e l'altra è un romanzo sotto forma di diario personale. Collegate perchè è sempre Will, il nostro protagonista, a raccontarci il tutto.
Mi è piaciuta di più la parte descrittiva del panorama ecotopiano, ci sono ottimi spunti di riflessione, molte volte mi sono fermato a pensare ai vari comuni virtuosi e quello che qui ci espone l'autore sono ora, a circa 50 anni di distanza, oggetto di discussion,e ma ancora in alto mare in fatto di attuazione.
Invece la parte romanzata mi è risultata un po' banalotta e non così coinvolgente, i personaggi rimangono un po' nel limbo, in quanto ad interesse.
Comunque tornando al discorso iniziale di dubbio, errore e casualità , questo libro n'è l'esempio perfetto, perchè una società potrà anche essere governata ed organizzata in modo "giusto", ma il dubbio, l'errore e la casualità ci metteranno sempre lo zampino e meno male!
Ecco, in questo romanzo non si è scaduti nell'errore banale ed ingenuo, che tutto ciò che venga descritto debba essere giusto, per quanto si possa definire/classificare il giusto o lo sbagliato ed inoltre ha messo ottime e solide basi per i vari movimenti ecologisti ed ambientalisti che si sono sempre più sviluppati negli anni a venire.
Da recuperare!
Ecco il dubbio, analizzandolo per primo, mi fa riandare alle scoperte scientifiche, quante di queste si sono sviluppate dal dubbio, senza di esso, le scienze sarebbero sterili. L'errore: va di pari passo con il dubbio, quando si sbaglia ci viene subito il dubbio che qualcosa non sia andato a buon fine. La massima: "sbagliando s'impara" è incontrovertibile. L'esperienza è come uno zaino che ci portiamo dietro da quando nasciamo e lo riempiamo durante tutta la vita, principalmente con i nostri errori.
Infine la casualità : il caso è ciò la scintilla che ha dato la vita, ha dato inizio all'universo, le stelle, tutto è nato dal caso.
Tutta questa premessa, per introdurre il libro che ho appena finito di leggere: "Ecotopia" di Ernest Callenbach.
Siamo in là nel futuro, ma non troppo e dopo vari avvenimenti, più o meno piacevoli, si è creato un nuovo paese indipendente, appunto Ecotopia.
Un giornalista degli Stati Uniti, mandato dal governo centrale ad indagare su quel paese, scoprirà pian piano un luogo ed una società , tanto millantata come estremista e da estirpare da parte degli Stati Uniti, che lo affascina e...
Non sono molto attratto dalle utopie, cioè quelle narrazioni che raccontano di luoghi e stili di vita che dovrebbero essere giusti o comunque auspicabili per un sano e quieto vivere, nel rispetto di tutto e tutti.
Prima di questa lettura, mi ero imbattutto in "Utopia" di Thomas More e quel racconto mi era sembrato più una distopia che il contrario, ma questa è un'altra storia.
Così approdo in "Ecotopia". La struttura narrativa è divisa in due parti distinte, ma anche collegate che si intrecciano comunque bene. Distinte perchè, una parte è un saggio divulgativo di ecologia, mascherato da racconto di viaggio e l'altra è un romanzo sotto forma di diario personale. Collegate perchè è sempre Will, il nostro protagonista, a raccontarci il tutto.
Mi è piaciuta di più la parte descrittiva del panorama ecotopiano, ci sono ottimi spunti di riflessione, molte volte mi sono fermato a pensare ai vari comuni virtuosi e quello che qui ci espone l'autore sono ora, a circa 50 anni di distanza, oggetto di discussion,e ma ancora in alto mare in fatto di attuazione.
Invece la parte romanzata mi è risultata un po' banalotta e non così coinvolgente, i personaggi rimangono un po' nel limbo, in quanto ad interesse.
Comunque tornando al discorso iniziale di dubbio, errore e casualità , questo libro n'è l'esempio perfetto, perchè una società potrà anche essere governata ed organizzata in modo "giusto", ma il dubbio, l'errore e la casualità ci metteranno sempre lo zampino e meno male!
Ecco, in questo romanzo non si è scaduti nell'errore banale ed ingenuo, che tutto ciò che venga descritto debba essere giusto, per quanto si possa definire/classificare il giusto o lo sbagliato ed inoltre ha messo ottime e solide basi per i vari movimenti ecologisti ed ambientalisti che si sono sempre più sviluppati negli anni a venire.
Da recuperare!
December 2, 2010
It would be very easy to make fun of this book, but I shall do my best to refrain from that. It would be like the proverbial shooting of fish in a barrel. Also, I'm sure that this book means a lot to many well meaning people. So... "bear" with me.
I suppose the book (for me) might be summed up in 3 words, "oh come on." From the opening scenes where our story teller rides in a "green" eco-friendly wooden train car, as everyone passes around legal marijuana and we see the people of Ecotopia wearing "loose bright colored clothing" and (of course) sandals (in winter), to the close where the same story teller, the reporter is "suddenly" repulsed by his own reflection as an "ugly American" and realizes he's become an Ecotopian himself. This 1970s read is a hippie Utopian vision. I'm sorry, but it's so full of nonsense (well meaning and ideological nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless) as to be unintentionally humorous at times. The writer's use of language speaks to the era (the common use of the great "F" word to be daring for example. There are other words for the act of physical intimacy, but I think he thought he was going for shocking and "anti-establishment").
This was written at (arguably) the beginning of the modern eco movement and shows it's "colors" throughout. Unfortunately, aside from the political agenda with the subtlety of assault and battery, the story (such as it is) isn't that interesting or told all that well. You get a litany of "how it would work if we'd all just get with program" inside a coating of predictable prose.
I know that a lot of people believe in this radical view of ecology that is still out there and making it's way steadily into law. Oddly if you'll take a look at the attempt at a story here you'll see that even here told by someone who believes it...it's ridiculous.
I apologize if you hold this book and/or the ideology behind it but it is fatally flawed. A boy is not a rat, a dog or a fish. That very approach is self defeating as humans must take the responsibility for the ecology that is set up in this book as a sort of object of worship. This approach just as much as unrestrained strip mining and clear cutting lacks balance and in the end is (believe it or not) a failing set of ideas.
So, poor story, only fair story telling wrapped around a creamy center of political claptrap. 1 star.
I suppose the book (for me) might be summed up in 3 words, "oh come on." From the opening scenes where our story teller rides in a "green" eco-friendly wooden train car, as everyone passes around legal marijuana and we see the people of Ecotopia wearing "loose bright colored clothing" and (of course) sandals (in winter), to the close where the same story teller, the reporter is "suddenly" repulsed by his own reflection as an "ugly American" and realizes he's become an Ecotopian himself. This 1970s read is a hippie Utopian vision. I'm sorry, but it's so full of nonsense (well meaning and ideological nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless) as to be unintentionally humorous at times. The writer's use of language speaks to the era (the common use of the great "F" word to be daring for example. There are other words for the act of physical intimacy, but I think he thought he was going for shocking and "anti-establishment").
This was written at (arguably) the beginning of the modern eco movement and shows it's "colors" throughout. Unfortunately, aside from the political agenda with the subtlety of assault and battery, the story (such as it is) isn't that interesting or told all that well. You get a litany of "how it would work if we'd all just get with program" inside a coating of predictable prose.
I know that a lot of people believe in this radical view of ecology that is still out there and making it's way steadily into law. Oddly if you'll take a look at the attempt at a story here you'll see that even here told by someone who believes it...it's ridiculous.
I apologize if you hold this book and/or the ideology behind it but it is fatally flawed. A boy is not a rat, a dog or a fish. That very approach is self defeating as humans must take the responsibility for the ecology that is set up in this book as a sort of object of worship. This approach just as much as unrestrained strip mining and clear cutting lacks balance and in the end is (believe it or not) a failing set of ideas.
So, poor story, only fair story telling wrapped around a creamy center of political claptrap. 1 star.
July 11, 2023
I love a utopia, and parts of this seemed pretty awesome, but this definitely feels like a utopia from a dude from 50 years ago.
March 6, 2011
The story as told by a reporter from the remaining United States visiting Ecotopia -- the seceded northwest bio-region of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington -- after 20 years of isolationism. His objective skepticism is quickly eroded by this green Utopian playground in which respect for living things is the society's primary value.
A bit naive. It is like Callenbach paved the way for our current silly belief in green capitalism. The message: We can do everything we do now in more or less the same way, but we can do it differently and sustainably and green.
And yet, the longer its been since I've read this, the more it works on me. Things I thought were silly in my youth seem to make more sense as time goes by. I think about this book frequently. And since books that present our almost certainly bleak future as having the possibility of positive chance are rare, it is worth reading.
For a very different, though hardly as positive viewpoint about future direction, check out . Or better yet, for a ecologically-aware, anarchist-friendly, and compassionate future vision against all the odds of militaristic, industrial society, read by .
A bit naive. It is like Callenbach paved the way for our current silly belief in green capitalism. The message: We can do everything we do now in more or less the same way, but we can do it differently and sustainably and green.
And yet, the longer its been since I've read this, the more it works on me. Things I thought were silly in my youth seem to make more sense as time goes by. I think about this book frequently. And since books that present our almost certainly bleak future as having the possibility of positive chance are rare, it is worth reading.
For a very different, though hardly as positive viewpoint about future direction, check out . Or better yet, for a ecologically-aware, anarchist-friendly, and compassionate future vision against all the odds of militaristic, industrial society, read by .
October 10, 2020
'Ecotopia' has been on my to-read list for at least ten years, but only this week did I finally find a copy of it. Thank you, eBay. I was concerned that it might prove dry, which turned out to be entirely unfounded. I was gripped throughout the short novel, which I read in one sitting. It is rather fascinating both on its own merits and as a historical document. Callenbach first published 'Ecotopia' in 1975. It follows the long tradition of , , et al of sending a man into an isolated society very different from his own to investigate how it runs. The reader is invited to contrast the society favourably with the one in which they live. Unlike its antecedents, 'Ecotopia' does not involve the discovery of a previously unknown enclave. Rather, it provides an alternate history in which a big chunk of the US West Coast seceded in 1980 and established an independent nation-state called Ecotopia. The book begins in 2000, when a journalist is sent to visit Ecotopia and send back reports. The narrative is structured around the reportage and private diary written by this journalist, Will Weston. I appreciated the conceit of his being a journalist, as his investigations therefore felt less artificial than those of 18th and 19th century explorer-types.
I have to commend Callenbach on the detailed design of Ecotopia, which remains inspiring 45 years later. Indeed, I was both struck by his prescience and saddened that his suggestions for low-impact living are often still treated like new and wild ideas. It is frequently forgotten that throughout the history of capitalism people have opposed its damaging effects on the environment and proposed alternatives. On the other hand, I was heartened that some aspects of Ecotopia have started to become normal, notably recycling. Will is shocked that Ecotopians bother to separate their rubbish into recycling bins; I do that regularly. Indeed, Edinburgh has a more complex set of rubbish categories than Ecotopia: six of them, each with a colour coded bin (food waste, garden waste, paper, glass, packaging, and non-recyclable waste). Other measures discussed in Ecotopia that are starting to edge into the mainstream include biodegradable plastics, reusable packaging, electric vehicles, car-free city centres, urban tree-planting, 3D printed modular buildings, land tax, large scale solar and wind energy, legal marijuana, Universal Basic Income, and slow fashion. Callenbach also predicted video calling, as everyone in Ecotopia uses 'picturephones'. No mobile phones, but there is a partial version of the internet as all university courses are available as recorded videos via TV or picturephone.
Part of my reason for reading 'Ecotopia' right now was to compare it with , a non-fiction book published this year that is of the same length and has the same intended message. Despite it being 45 years older, I found 'Ecotopia' a more encouraging and convincing argument that humanity can live within environmental limits. Although climate change was little researched and not an environmental priority in 1975, the Ecotopian way of life is definitely low carbon. They use no fossil fuels and have a steady-state, circular economy. Unlike , 'Ecotopia' makes clear that a post-capitalist system is required to achieve this because extreme wealth is politically corrosive and environmentally destructive. After succession, most of the wealthy fled and all their capital was expropriated. Businesses, universities, and schools are communally owned and controlled by their employees; no wealth can be inherited. Inequality has been dramatically reduced. Will discusses with an Ecotopian whether their economic system is socialist, concluding that it's a mixed economy. Of course, you could say the same for any country, as nowhere has a pure market economy or a total absence of markets. Ecotopia definitely isn't capitalist, however, and in many ways resembles theoretical models of communism. Decision-making is decentralised and consensus-based, although political parties remain and there is a (female) president.
One paragraph on page 18 of 'Ecotopia' very neatly summarises the environmental economics course I took in 2005:
The material on economics is really good, although one significant area that went unmentioned is banking. Does Ecotopia have banks and credit? I'd posit it has personal banking, with strict limits on interest rates for both saving and lending, but absolutely no speculative investment banking. In fact, I bet it only has building societies owned and controlled by their members.
While I was more interested in the technological and economic details of Ecotopia, the social and cultural aspects also proved thought-provoking. The former have aged better, whereas the latter reflect mid-1970s America. Most notably, Will writes a piece about Ecotopia's racial politics. There is a kind of voluntary apartheid, as most black people live in their own enclave. The problems of racial inequality and racial prejudice have mysteriously been solved, but apparently integration was much harder to envisage. I assume this reflects the political context of America in the 1970s. Another striking feature is the replacement of competitive team sports with war games, so the young men can express their violent urges without damage to society. I was rather dubious about these, as they reminded me of Fukuyama's arguments about 'thymos' in . The gender politics also inevitably look a bit dated. Despite stating that Ecotopia has achieved gender equality, Callenbach still depicts a society with significantly different gender roles for men and women. The role of women has undoubtedly expanded, notably into politics, though. Extended family units/polycules are a more radical development. The willingness of Ecotopians to show and share their emotions is an intriguing consequence of an egalitarian, less competitive, and more cooperative culture. Both of these presumably suggest the legacy of the Hippy movement.
'Ecotopia' has more concrete ideas for low carbon living than any 21st century books on the topic that I've read recently. It's therefore still a rewarding and thought-provoking read 45 years after publication. I considered deducting one star because the parallels between Will falling in love with Ecotopia and with an Ecotopian woman are very heavy-handed. Ultimately I decided this would be mean-spirited, as Callenbach packs so many good ideas into 166 pages. While I don't think everything he describes would necessarily work, overall his suggestions are highly promising. Would I live in Ecotopia? Fuck yeah.
I have to commend Callenbach on the detailed design of Ecotopia, which remains inspiring 45 years later. Indeed, I was both struck by his prescience and saddened that his suggestions for low-impact living are often still treated like new and wild ideas. It is frequently forgotten that throughout the history of capitalism people have opposed its damaging effects on the environment and proposed alternatives. On the other hand, I was heartened that some aspects of Ecotopia have started to become normal, notably recycling. Will is shocked that Ecotopians bother to separate their rubbish into recycling bins; I do that regularly. Indeed, Edinburgh has a more complex set of rubbish categories than Ecotopia: six of them, each with a colour coded bin (food waste, garden waste, paper, glass, packaging, and non-recyclable waste). Other measures discussed in Ecotopia that are starting to edge into the mainstream include biodegradable plastics, reusable packaging, electric vehicles, car-free city centres, urban tree-planting, 3D printed modular buildings, land tax, large scale solar and wind energy, legal marijuana, Universal Basic Income, and slow fashion. Callenbach also predicted video calling, as everyone in Ecotopia uses 'picturephones'. No mobile phones, but there is a partial version of the internet as all university courses are available as recorded videos via TV or picturephone.
Part of my reason for reading 'Ecotopia' right now was to compare it with , a non-fiction book published this year that is of the same length and has the same intended message. Despite it being 45 years older, I found 'Ecotopia' a more encouraging and convincing argument that humanity can live within environmental limits. Although climate change was little researched and not an environmental priority in 1975, the Ecotopian way of life is definitely low carbon. They use no fossil fuels and have a steady-state, circular economy. Unlike , 'Ecotopia' makes clear that a post-capitalist system is required to achieve this because extreme wealth is politically corrosive and environmentally destructive. After succession, most of the wealthy fled and all their capital was expropriated. Businesses, universities, and schools are communally owned and controlled by their employees; no wealth can be inherited. Inequality has been dramatically reduced. Will discusses with an Ecotopian whether their economic system is socialist, concluding that it's a mixed economy. Of course, you could say the same for any country, as nowhere has a pure market economy or a total absence of markets. Ecotopia definitely isn't capitalist, however, and in many ways resembles theoretical models of communism. Decision-making is decentralised and consensus-based, although political parties remain and there is a (female) president.
One paragraph on page 18 of 'Ecotopia' very neatly summarises the environmental economics course I took in 2005:
"Our system is considerably cheaper than yours, if we add in all the costs. Many of your costs are ignored, or passed through subterfuge to posterity or the general public. We on the other hand must acknowledge all costs. Otherwise we could not hope to achieve the stable-state life systems which are our fundamental ecological and political goal. If, for instance, we had continued your practise of 'free' disposal of wastes in watercourses, sooner or later somebody else would have had to calculate (and bear) the costs of the resulting dead rivers and lakes. We prefer to do it ourselves. It is obviously not easy to quantify certain of these costs. But we have been able to approximate them in workable political terms - especially since our country is relatively sensible in scale.
The material on economics is really good, although one significant area that went unmentioned is banking. Does Ecotopia have banks and credit? I'd posit it has personal banking, with strict limits on interest rates for both saving and lending, but absolutely no speculative investment banking. In fact, I bet it only has building societies owned and controlled by their members.
While I was more interested in the technological and economic details of Ecotopia, the social and cultural aspects also proved thought-provoking. The former have aged better, whereas the latter reflect mid-1970s America. Most notably, Will writes a piece about Ecotopia's racial politics. There is a kind of voluntary apartheid, as most black people live in their own enclave. The problems of racial inequality and racial prejudice have mysteriously been solved, but apparently integration was much harder to envisage. I assume this reflects the political context of America in the 1970s. Another striking feature is the replacement of competitive team sports with war games, so the young men can express their violent urges without damage to society. I was rather dubious about these, as they reminded me of Fukuyama's arguments about 'thymos' in . The gender politics also inevitably look a bit dated. Despite stating that Ecotopia has achieved gender equality, Callenbach still depicts a society with significantly different gender roles for men and women. The role of women has undoubtedly expanded, notably into politics, though. Extended family units/polycules are a more radical development. The willingness of Ecotopians to show and share their emotions is an intriguing consequence of an egalitarian, less competitive, and more cooperative culture. Both of these presumably suggest the legacy of the Hippy movement.
'Ecotopia' has more concrete ideas for low carbon living than any 21st century books on the topic that I've read recently. It's therefore still a rewarding and thought-provoking read 45 years after publication. I considered deducting one star because the parallels between Will falling in love with Ecotopia and with an Ecotopian woman are very heavy-handed. Ultimately I decided this would be mean-spirited, as Callenbach packs so many good ideas into 166 pages. While I don't think everything he describes would necessarily work, overall his suggestions are highly promising. Would I live in Ecotopia? Fuck yeah.
Read
December 4, 2018Tasarlanan Ütopya birçok konuda itiraza yer bırakmayacak şekilde, en küçük ayrıntısına kadar üzerinde çok düşünülerek tasarlanmış. Ama yazar, bilimle içli dışlı olmanın etkisi olsa gerek, tasarılarını edebileştirme konusunda çok başarılı olamamış. Birçok yerde ekonomik bir rapor okuyormuş gibi hissettiriyor.
Bir ütopya olarak üzerine düşünüşebilecek, savunulabilecek, kültürü ve doğayı kaynaştırma fikrini temel alan ve ayakları yere sağlam basan bir kitap. Ama aynı ölçüde okuması zorlayıcı ve biraz sıkıcı.
Ekotopya'ya 2.5 yıldız.
Bir ütopya olarak üzerine düşünüşebilecek, savunulabilecek, kültürü ve doğayı kaynaştırma fikrini temel alan ve ayakları yere sağlam basan bir kitap. Ama aynı ölçüde okuması zorlayıcı ve biraz sıkıcı.
Ekotopya'ya 2.5 yıldız.
March 29, 2021
Publié en 1975, Ecotopia bénéficie d'une réédition récente en VF. C'est, à mes yeux, un classique SF à ajouter à côté de 1984 de George Orwell et du Meilleur des Mondes de Huxley. Seule différence, à l'inverse de ces deux derniers, Ecotopia dépeint une société qui veut tendre vers un idéal écologique.
L'idée du roman, c'est que 3 Etats américains ont fait sécession pour instaurer Ecotopia, une contrée entièrement basée sur les concepts écologiques. Un journaliste américain est envoyé en reportage, vingt ans plus tard, pour découvrir ce que sont devenus ces Etats. Entre son carnet intime et ses articles, nous découvrons le principe d'un pays entièrement basé sur l'écologie.
Ce qui est intéressant dans cet ouvrage, c'est qu'il rappelle qu'une réelle politique écologique ne peut pas s'instaurer sans sortir de la logique capitaliste (sans pour autant sombrer dans le communisme). Ainsi, outre les énergies durables, le recyclage, les produits locaux que l'on connaît déjà , Ecotopia a instauré la semaine de travail de vingt heures, supprimé les rapports patrons/salariés (les travailleurs discutent de leurs conditions de travail, décident des modifications etc), et même au niveau du corps décisionnaire du gouvernement, leurs bureaux et biens ne diffèrent pas de ceux du citoyen lambda (qui peut réagir en direct aux informations télévisées et donner son avis en direct quant aux décisions gouvernementales). Voilà qui fait réfléchir !
Le roman souffre en revanche de son âge - écrit dans les années 70, cela se voit entre la légalisation de la drogue et la sexualité débridée. L'autre bémol, c'est que, certes, le narrateur est un Américain moyen bourré de préjugés (pour lui il est impensable de faire le tri de ses déchets ou de ne pas pouvoir choisir entre 15 couleurs différentes d'un produit donné), mais on sent trop le fait que l'auteur est un homme blanc hétéro. Sérieusement, les biais sexistes et même racistes et validistes de l'auteur sont très visibles - le passage de l'infirmière qui couche avec le patient pour 'l'aider à guérir" m'a clairement fait penser à un mauvais scénario d'ouvrage porno ! Par ailleurs, malgré un début qui paraissait montrer une société égalitaire (une femme présidente, l'éducation des enfants partagée réellement entre hommes et femmes), j'ai vite déchanté quand le principal sport national est indiqué comme réservé aux hommes parce que ceux-ci ont (selon l'auteur) davantage besoin de compétition alors que les femmes préfèrent la sphère pensante et soignante (stéréotypes de genre, bonjour). Je parlais aussi de biais racistes, parce que la question des populations non blanches m'a paru mal abordée (mais n'étant pas concernée, je n'analyserai pas davantage). Quant au validisme, il m'apparaît parce que nulle part, je n'ai vu apparaître la question du handicap et que les infrastructures détaillées ne me paraissaient pas adaptées à des citoyens invalides.
En résumé, Ecotopia vaut surtout pour son côté préoccupé avant l'heure par l'environnement et par son lien entre écologie et refonte profonde de la société. Malheureusement, il reste marqué par son époque comme par les biais de son auteur.
L'idée du roman, c'est que 3 Etats américains ont fait sécession pour instaurer Ecotopia, une contrée entièrement basée sur les concepts écologiques. Un journaliste américain est envoyé en reportage, vingt ans plus tard, pour découvrir ce que sont devenus ces Etats. Entre son carnet intime et ses articles, nous découvrons le principe d'un pays entièrement basé sur l'écologie.
Ce qui est intéressant dans cet ouvrage, c'est qu'il rappelle qu'une réelle politique écologique ne peut pas s'instaurer sans sortir de la logique capitaliste (sans pour autant sombrer dans le communisme). Ainsi, outre les énergies durables, le recyclage, les produits locaux que l'on connaît déjà , Ecotopia a instauré la semaine de travail de vingt heures, supprimé les rapports patrons/salariés (les travailleurs discutent de leurs conditions de travail, décident des modifications etc), et même au niveau du corps décisionnaire du gouvernement, leurs bureaux et biens ne diffèrent pas de ceux du citoyen lambda (qui peut réagir en direct aux informations télévisées et donner son avis en direct quant aux décisions gouvernementales). Voilà qui fait réfléchir !
Le roman souffre en revanche de son âge - écrit dans les années 70, cela se voit entre la légalisation de la drogue et la sexualité débridée. L'autre bémol, c'est que, certes, le narrateur est un Américain moyen bourré de préjugés (pour lui il est impensable de faire le tri de ses déchets ou de ne pas pouvoir choisir entre 15 couleurs différentes d'un produit donné), mais on sent trop le fait que l'auteur est un homme blanc hétéro. Sérieusement, les biais sexistes et même racistes et validistes de l'auteur sont très visibles - le passage de l'infirmière qui couche avec le patient pour 'l'aider à guérir" m'a clairement fait penser à un mauvais scénario d'ouvrage porno ! Par ailleurs, malgré un début qui paraissait montrer une société égalitaire (une femme présidente, l'éducation des enfants partagée réellement entre hommes et femmes), j'ai vite déchanté quand le principal sport national est indiqué comme réservé aux hommes parce que ceux-ci ont (selon l'auteur) davantage besoin de compétition alors que les femmes préfèrent la sphère pensante et soignante (stéréotypes de genre, bonjour). Je parlais aussi de biais racistes, parce que la question des populations non blanches m'a paru mal abordée (mais n'étant pas concernée, je n'analyserai pas davantage). Quant au validisme, il m'apparaît parce que nulle part, je n'ai vu apparaître la question du handicap et que les infrastructures détaillées ne me paraissaient pas adaptées à des citoyens invalides.
En résumé, Ecotopia vaut surtout pour son côté préoccupé avant l'heure par l'environnement et par son lien entre écologie et refonte profonde de la société. Malheureusement, il reste marqué par son époque comme par les biais de son auteur.
October 30, 2022
Ecotopia is a book about a sustainable environmentalist utopia; the region west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range formerly known as Washington, Oregon, and Northern California became its own nation state after seceding from the Union. This novel, originally written in 1975, takes place 20 years after secession under the premise of the first American journalist coming to visit the region. Through journal entries and articles, William Westin of the New York Times-Post shares his perspective of the newly independent nation.
Sign me up and send me to Ecotopia! Through Will’s articles we learn that residents of Ecotopia enjoy the benefits of: compulsory recycling, the Metric system, magnetic trains, electric buses and taxis, a free bicycle program and free bus system, prohibition of personal cars requiring more walking or public transit, non-synthetic clothing, universal use of organic fertilizer and compost from food waste, a food system that is 99% waste-free, no processed or packaged foods, a productive 20-hour work week, no paint, and plastic is created from organic materials and totally biodegradable. Politics and television are also completely different and more participatory rather than domineering or mind-numbing. Consumerism is at a low, with Ecotopians owning little possessions except the necessities. In reading this book you not only keep getting bashed over the head with your secession fantasies but also a picture of the world that you wish would exist right now.
Some of the not so great things: while women are held in equal regard politically and socially, they are often referred to as overly emotional beings. I suppose the way men can be characterized as aggressive and individualistic in this novel can be a stereotype, too, but I noticed there was more of a bias toward women and their emotional states. There was also a weird fascination with the war games, which were a substitution for engaging in warlike conflict + a brutal sport like American football. They weren’t grotesquely horrible like the Hunger Games or fought to the death like ancient Roman gladiator fights, but they were unusual. Lastly, regarding race, there was an Ecotopian fascination with the Native populations but little representation or discussion about their Tribes or whereabouts, instead it seems more like fetishization. There’s only one chapter that discusses non-white race, and focuses on segregation while being rife with stereotypes. Considering that this was written 45 years ago and closer in time to the post-Civil Rights era as well as the more recent Black Panther Party era, I was a little shocked there wasn’t more racial harmony in this utopia story. But overall this was a pleasant book to read and I’m jealous and a little sad that our nation hasn’t progressed when ideas of sustainability have literally been circulating for the last several decades.
Sign me up and send me to Ecotopia! Through Will’s articles we learn that residents of Ecotopia enjoy the benefits of: compulsory recycling, the Metric system, magnetic trains, electric buses and taxis, a free bicycle program and free bus system, prohibition of personal cars requiring more walking or public transit, non-synthetic clothing, universal use of organic fertilizer and compost from food waste, a food system that is 99% waste-free, no processed or packaged foods, a productive 20-hour work week, no paint, and plastic is created from organic materials and totally biodegradable. Politics and television are also completely different and more participatory rather than domineering or mind-numbing. Consumerism is at a low, with Ecotopians owning little possessions except the necessities. In reading this book you not only keep getting bashed over the head with your secession fantasies but also a picture of the world that you wish would exist right now.
Some of the not so great things: while women are held in equal regard politically and socially, they are often referred to as overly emotional beings. I suppose the way men can be characterized as aggressive and individualistic in this novel can be a stereotype, too, but I noticed there was more of a bias toward women and their emotional states. There was also a weird fascination with the war games, which were a substitution for engaging in warlike conflict + a brutal sport like American football. They weren’t grotesquely horrible like the Hunger Games or fought to the death like ancient Roman gladiator fights, but they were unusual. Lastly, regarding race, there was an Ecotopian fascination with the Native populations but little representation or discussion about their Tribes or whereabouts, instead it seems more like fetishization. There’s only one chapter that discusses non-white race, and focuses on segregation while being rife with stereotypes. Considering that this was written 45 years ago and closer in time to the post-Civil Rights era as well as the more recent Black Panther Party era, I was a little shocked there wasn’t more racial harmony in this utopia story. But overall this was a pleasant book to read and I’m jealous and a little sad that our nation hasn’t progressed when ideas of sustainability have literally been circulating for the last several decades.
October 25, 2018
This is a jewel. A good friend offered me a worn out paperback, that was probably read by many people. Mine was already read by others. It is good to get a hold of utopian scenarios. This stories makes its utopia feel real. And why shouldn't we dream of a better world? It is interesting the way it was constructed. An outsider visits Ecotopia for the first time since it was created. A visitor from the USA. Ecotopia is a new country, its territory consists of Northen California, Oregon and Washington. He describes what he sees, as a reporter, and with some degree of skepticism, because Ecotopia has had its borders closed and almost no contact with its neighbour. What he sees is a eco-friendly nation, that was able to change habits, and create a new society. The society is described with detail, the way things are connected, resources are used, technology is thought of, transportation, food, every aspect of civilization. What made me, at the time I read it, sensible, is how much the author invested in showing that people actually changed. In maybe two generations. That was probably the aspect that I did not think, at the time, was realistic. But maybe I got it wrong. Maybe people change, and quickly, if society changes around them.
March 2, 2019
Quelle déception ! J'attendais beaucoup de ce roman dont la quatrième de couverture était extrêmement alléchante, un récit où les Etats de la côte ouest des Etats-Unis ont décidé de faire sécession pour enfin avoir toute liberté de voter les lois écologiques nécessaires et ainsi, reculer du précipice vers lequel nos sociétés ultra industrialisées et individualistes nous ont poussé.
Au départ, j'ai été surprise par l'actualité de ce roman, publié en 1975 pour la première fois mais pourtant toujours aussi criant de vérité - malheureusement, en plus de 40 ans, nous n'avons pas beaucoup progressé ... Mais très rapidement, l'ennui a fait place au plaisir de découvrir l'Ecotopia, ce nouveau pays radicalement tourné vers l'écologie. Comme le narrateur est un journaliste, le premier Américain à obtenir le droit d'entrer en Ecotopia, le récit prend soit la forme d'articles de journaux soit d'extraits de journal intime. Et la forme journalistique est tellement fastidieuse ! Arrivée aux deux-tiers, je n'en pouvais plus, j'avais l'impression de lire un très long dossier ou même un essai (mais du genre lourd). Certes, l'auteur a énormément réfléchi à tous les aspects de la vie en Ecotopia, on ne peut pas nier qu'il y a un travail de dingue derrière tout ça, mais pour le lecteur, à moins d'être vraiment passionné par la politique, l'urbanisme ou l'économie (ce que je ne suis pas du tout !), c'est tout simplement indigeste. Et que dire de la psychologie des Ecotopiens ! Je veux bien qu'une société qui retourne à la terre et à des valeurs plus humaines amène des changements de comportement, mais là on est plutôt sur une hystérie collective, où les gens hurlent leurs émotions à la face des autres. Et n'oublions pas, bien sûr, la sexualité débridée ! Gros fantasme de l'auteur à priori (la scène de l'infirmière cochonne, c'est le pompon), mais au final les Ecotopiens passent pour des hippies (d'autant plus que la marijuana circule à foison).
J'ai eu du mal à trouver du sens, et il n'y a pas du tout d'intrigue là -dedans, rien qui donne envie de poursuivre. Le personnage principal est fade, de même que tous ceux qu'il rencontre. Et cette fin ! Soit c'est d'une mièvrerie hallucinante, soit on veut nous faire comprendre que le narrateur a été drogué et agit contre sa volonté (ce qui, soit dit en passant, serait le seul évènement un peu fun du roman). Je n'ai pas su comment la prendre.
Je vous suggère fortement de passer votre chemin à moins d'avoir une thèse à écrire sur la construction de sociétés écologiques !
Au départ, j'ai été surprise par l'actualité de ce roman, publié en 1975 pour la première fois mais pourtant toujours aussi criant de vérité - malheureusement, en plus de 40 ans, nous n'avons pas beaucoup progressé ... Mais très rapidement, l'ennui a fait place au plaisir de découvrir l'Ecotopia, ce nouveau pays radicalement tourné vers l'écologie. Comme le narrateur est un journaliste, le premier Américain à obtenir le droit d'entrer en Ecotopia, le récit prend soit la forme d'articles de journaux soit d'extraits de journal intime. Et la forme journalistique est tellement fastidieuse ! Arrivée aux deux-tiers, je n'en pouvais plus, j'avais l'impression de lire un très long dossier ou même un essai (mais du genre lourd). Certes, l'auteur a énormément réfléchi à tous les aspects de la vie en Ecotopia, on ne peut pas nier qu'il y a un travail de dingue derrière tout ça, mais pour le lecteur, à moins d'être vraiment passionné par la politique, l'urbanisme ou l'économie (ce que je ne suis pas du tout !), c'est tout simplement indigeste. Et que dire de la psychologie des Ecotopiens ! Je veux bien qu'une société qui retourne à la terre et à des valeurs plus humaines amène des changements de comportement, mais là on est plutôt sur une hystérie collective, où les gens hurlent leurs émotions à la face des autres. Et n'oublions pas, bien sûr, la sexualité débridée ! Gros fantasme de l'auteur à priori (la scène de l'infirmière cochonne, c'est le pompon), mais au final les Ecotopiens passent pour des hippies (d'autant plus que la marijuana circule à foison).
J'ai eu du mal à trouver du sens, et il n'y a pas du tout d'intrigue là -dedans, rien qui donne envie de poursuivre. Le personnage principal est fade, de même que tous ceux qu'il rencontre. Et cette fin ! Soit c'est d'une mièvrerie hallucinante, soit on veut nous faire comprendre que le narrateur a été drogué et agit contre sa volonté (ce qui, soit dit en passant, serait le seul évènement un peu fun du roman). Je n'ai pas su comment la prendre.
Je vous suggère fortement de passer votre chemin à moins d'avoir une thèse à écrire sur la construction de sociétés écologiques !
November 28, 2012
I wanted to read 's since early 2009. (It took me almost four years to get there.) I had heard about it that it was introducing an utopian society, that it was exploring near-scientific explanations to how a sustainable society can exist, and that it practiced what it preached (the book was printed on-demand, sustained by the demand of interested consumers rather than publishing economics). Having finally read it, I am impressed in the way that I was after having read 's , that is, not about the validity of the ideas, but about how this book seems prescient in listing important topics for the 2000s world.
Now about the actual book. is written around the premise that a near-socialist society, in which capitalist endeavors are tolerated but everything else is communal, is sustainable and desirable. (As such, this book can be easily mistaken as a more recent version of the Communist Manifesto, Mao's decrees, and similar proletcultist material.)
The story is quite coarse. To implement the premise, sets William Weston (the journalist with Wild West-sound-alike, sic!-, capitalist ethics) on a journey through the secessionist country of Ecotopia, which occupies roughly the West Coast of today's USA. Will, who is an honest, generally likable journalist, manages to learn very quickly the ins and outs of the Ecotopian society, to which he becomes smitted over the first week-end. He also gets laid very often, perhaps to sweeten the pill. The ending includes the only real cliff-hanger in the story line, so I will avoid spoiling it here. The characters are not much to talk about, and in resistance speak they would be easily called megaphones for the main message of "Ecotopia is great, long live the Great Leader of" ... oops, wrong movie. There's also quite a lot on racial and gender segregation, enough to fuel a raging talk about racism and feminism, and how is this and that.
But. But! BUT! (the book) talks about technology, such as on-demand printing. And about clean energy. And about schooling systems. And about the tenuous relationship between entertainment and advertisements. And about cleaning our lakes, and meadows, and mountains. And about efficient agriculture, factories, and even government. And about social relations. And. And! AND! There are many topics, with enough detail each, to start a meaningful discussion (this is 1974!). Perhaps not surprisingly, discussion on many of these topics is still raging in the Western world, and had barely started among the Nouveau Riche countries; there's much to wait until such discussion can even begin in places such as Somalia, North Korea, etc.
Overall, recommended reading. Think of this as going to the museum to see the Atlas Maior of Joan Blaeu, the Declaration of Independence, or whatever is your favorite old document. It's antiquated and may even have offending inscriptions, but it's important to remember.
Now about the actual book. is written around the premise that a near-socialist society, in which capitalist endeavors are tolerated but everything else is communal, is sustainable and desirable. (As such, this book can be easily mistaken as a more recent version of the Communist Manifesto, Mao's decrees, and similar proletcultist material.)
The story is quite coarse. To implement the premise, sets William Weston (the journalist with Wild West-sound-alike, sic!-, capitalist ethics) on a journey through the secessionist country of Ecotopia, which occupies roughly the West Coast of today's USA. Will, who is an honest, generally likable journalist, manages to learn very quickly the ins and outs of the Ecotopian society, to which he becomes smitted over the first week-end. He also gets laid very often, perhaps to sweeten the pill. The ending includes the only real cliff-hanger in the story line, so I will avoid spoiling it here. The characters are not much to talk about, and in resistance speak they would be easily called megaphones for the main message of "Ecotopia is great, long live the Great Leader of" ... oops, wrong movie. There's also quite a lot on racial and gender segregation, enough to fuel a raging talk about racism and feminism, and how is this and that.
But. But! BUT! (the book) talks about technology, such as on-demand printing. And about clean energy. And about schooling systems. And about the tenuous relationship between entertainment and advertisements. And about cleaning our lakes, and meadows, and mountains. And about efficient agriculture, factories, and even government. And about social relations. And. And! AND! There are many topics, with enough detail each, to start a meaningful discussion (this is 1974!). Perhaps not surprisingly, discussion on many of these topics is still raging in the Western world, and had barely started among the Nouveau Riche countries; there's much to wait until such discussion can even begin in places such as Somalia, North Korea, etc.
Overall, recommended reading. Think of this as going to the museum to see the Atlas Maior of Joan Blaeu, the Declaration of Independence, or whatever is your favorite old document. It's antiquated and may even have offending inscriptions, but it's important to remember.
April 21, 2016
In brief: Ecotopia is a brilliant story illuminating a possible, bright sustainable eco-future where No. Cal, Oregon and Washington secede from 'Merica and are isolated for decades and a NY journalist visits for the first time since secession. The writing is not that great but the story and the vision of a sustainable high quality communal egalitarian life is brilliant. A must read for minds open to fighting for and having a sustainable, enjoyable life based upon sharing and enjoying Earth. Among the wonderful features of Ecotopia are: all organic food and products, free public trains and transportation, banned personal automobiles, work restricted to 20 hrs a week, neighborhood townhall meetings and what seemed to me a form of direct democracy ... and ... without any influence from the American capitalist empire.
Ecotopia is my go to suggested read for all i meet who have been buried by the existing capitalist 1% dystopic paradigm and are having a hard time visualizing a sustainable future. I've been reading Franco Berardi lately and his take is that around 1977 the world transformed from a place of optimism to a place of no future and that now we are surrounded by a hyperaccelerated virtualized financialized reality that does indeed, have no future. There are unlimited numbers of dystopias in book and film but almost no eutopias. Eutopia is Greek, for the good place, the total opposite of Utopia a fake paradise and punching bag of capitalism to "prove" there are no paradises, except the rotten capitalist pyramid schemes the 1% are running now.
I chanced onto this page to copy a link to a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' review of Ecotopia and was amazed to see a sizeable minority of people with one star or negative reviews and started reading them. Whoa! Here's the No Future community Berardi has partially been addressing. The reviews were imaginationless, blindered by "pragmatics" as determined by the corporate PR that has filtered through our textbooks, media and social engineering for the last 40 years. I made comments and was immediately swarmed by thought police Mr. Smiths (see the film "The Matrix"). Whether paid trolls of not their responses were self-policing trollisms on behalf of the neoliberal tyranny. The very opposite of the beautiful future envisioned by Callenbach. READ THIS BOOK!
Ecotopia is my go to suggested read for all i meet who have been buried by the existing capitalist 1% dystopic paradigm and are having a hard time visualizing a sustainable future. I've been reading Franco Berardi lately and his take is that around 1977 the world transformed from a place of optimism to a place of no future and that now we are surrounded by a hyperaccelerated virtualized financialized reality that does indeed, have no future. There are unlimited numbers of dystopias in book and film but almost no eutopias. Eutopia is Greek, for the good place, the total opposite of Utopia a fake paradise and punching bag of capitalism to "prove" there are no paradises, except the rotten capitalist pyramid schemes the 1% are running now.
I chanced onto this page to copy a link to a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ' review of Ecotopia and was amazed to see a sizeable minority of people with one star or negative reviews and started reading them. Whoa! Here's the No Future community Berardi has partially been addressing. The reviews were imaginationless, blindered by "pragmatics" as determined by the corporate PR that has filtered through our textbooks, media and social engineering for the last 40 years. I made comments and was immediately swarmed by thought police Mr. Smiths (see the film "The Matrix"). Whether paid trolls of not their responses were self-policing trollisms on behalf of the neoliberal tyranny. The very opposite of the beautiful future envisioned by Callenbach. READ THIS BOOK!
February 16, 2009
Northern California, Oregon, and Washington secede from the US. What's not to like? Five stars for imagination, given that this was written back in the 70s. This is a flawed masterpiece, an original vision that sticks to the inside of your head (OK my head) for decades. Callenbach shows us an alternative to the corporate- and profit-dominated world we live in now. Having read the book, I can't hear pundits talk about rising GDP and the need to increase our standard of living without wondering whether all economic hocus-pocus is hooey. And that's a good thing.
That said, other reviewers have rightly said that the book is sexist, racist, and naive. I imagine it is, and I hate to think what influence it may have had on my adolescent mind back then. On the other hand, millions of us boomers survived the animated Peter Pan only to shudder in horror when showing it to our children.
That said, other reviewers have rightly said that the book is sexist, racist, and naive. I imagine it is, and I hate to think what influence it may have had on my adolescent mind back then. On the other hand, millions of us boomers survived the animated Peter Pan only to shudder in horror when showing it to our children.
May 19, 2019
This book has made me deeply upset because it paints a world I desperately want to live in, but don't. While I can't say the book was very successful in its format of communicating through "newspaper articles" - no journalist ever wrote like that - the author WAS quite splendid at taking you along the narrator's emotional journey without your even realizing your own mind was going through the same changes he was. And, as nature loving as I am, it was the social structures and attitudes towards work and quality of life that really had me bought into this world. I never buy books anymore until after I've read them and decided future re-reads and thought would add to my quality of life - I'll be headed to the local bookstore to procure my own copy of this one.
August 27, 2007
The great thing about this book is it thinks through all your West Coast Succession dreams. There is a lot of fake future trivia you can relate to and all the Eco living standards are wonderful to think about. I rate it with a 3 because it is no literary masterpiece but I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever dreamed of West coast succession. Independent Eco living.
May 10, 2019
Fascinating time capsule. Reading this was like doing an archeological dig into the roots of a whole heap of utopian political, social, and psychological attitudes that helped shaped the 1970s and beyond. I can imagine myself reading this when I was 18 in the mid-80s and grooving to a lot of the ideas. Today, I found it oddly disturbing. It will take a while to process why.
August 11, 2007
a story from the perspective of a journalist who gets permission to enter Ecotopia, a country that was seceded from the US. It is interesting to read a story of how people life in harmony with nature from a different view from what we have now. A must read.
July 31, 2024
C'est vraiment une lecture frustrante, et le fait que ce livre ait été écrit en 1975 ne suffit pas à excuser certains passages absolument désastreux. En achetant ce livre, je m'attendais à lire un roman politique sur la nécessité d'agir et de prendre l'écologie au sérieux ; je me suis retrouvée avec un livre vaguement écolo, sûr de défendre le féminisme et l'anti-racisme et pourtant enclin aux raccourcis les plus cahoteux et en recellant de sexisme bienveillant. Mais pourquoi est-ce si terrible ?
1) Déjà , le protagoniste est un immense connard. C'est un choix volontaire de l'auteur, qui veut mettre en scène l'arrivée d'un "gros Américain sûr de lui" dans un pays qu'il juge hostile et arriéré. Le problème, c'est que le protagoniste reste un immense connard TOUT AU LONG du roman, alors même que l'auteur essaie de lui écrire un arc de rédemption.
2) La sexualité et la sexualisation des femmes est BEAUCOUP trop présente. Les femmes sont surtout présentées par le physique, ont toutes méga envie de faire l'amour au héro - qui ne s'en prive pas en pensant, je cite "Il n'y a aucune obligation: je ne me sens pas tenu de la baiser, même si je la trouve incroyablement désirable." D'ailleurs, la frustration sexuelle du protagoniste dans les premiers chapitres est vraiment pénible à lire (le pauvre petit chou n'a pas pu tremper son biscuit pendant une semaine le pauvre lapinou) Bon et le passage à l'hopitâl c'est juste un kink de l'auteur je me l'explique pas autrement.
3) L'Ecotopia a une culture, un rythme de vie et une philosophie radicalement différente des États-Unis. Or, ce pays a été formé après la guerre d'Indépendance, qui a eu lieu seulement vingt ans avant les événements du livre. L'absence totale d'opposition dans le pays et l'acceptation de la crise qui a suivi la guerre est beaucoup trop éloignée du réelle. Personne ne semble regretter le passé, et les familles divisées, les traumas de la guerre ou toutes les thématiques connexes n'existent juste pas en Ecotopia.
4) L'écologie présentée, c'est avant tout faire du tri, vénérer des arbres et fumer de la marijuana. J'exagère un peu, mais les enjeux véritablement politiques de la révolution écologique sont très peu présents, et s'appuyent souvent sur la technologie ou sur des raccourcis philosophique, comme si la Californie était soudain devenu un peuple autarcique qui respectait le vivant en trois semaines.
Il y a tout de même quelques bons points, genre la thématisation du coût social ou une volonté d'envisager une société plus féministe (à défaut d'y parvenir), mais c'est noyé dans le reste.
1) Déjà , le protagoniste est un immense connard. C'est un choix volontaire de l'auteur, qui veut mettre en scène l'arrivée d'un "gros Américain sûr de lui" dans un pays qu'il juge hostile et arriéré. Le problème, c'est que le protagoniste reste un immense connard TOUT AU LONG du roman, alors même que l'auteur essaie de lui écrire un arc de rédemption.
2) La sexualité et la sexualisation des femmes est BEAUCOUP trop présente. Les femmes sont surtout présentées par le physique, ont toutes méga envie de faire l'amour au héro - qui ne s'en prive pas en pensant, je cite "Il n'y a aucune obligation: je ne me sens pas tenu de la baiser, même si je la trouve incroyablement désirable." D'ailleurs, la frustration sexuelle du protagoniste dans les premiers chapitres est vraiment pénible à lire (le pauvre petit chou n'a pas pu tremper son biscuit pendant une semaine le pauvre lapinou) Bon et le passage à l'hopitâl c'est juste un kink de l'auteur je me l'explique pas autrement.
3) L'Ecotopia a une culture, un rythme de vie et une philosophie radicalement différente des États-Unis. Or, ce pays a été formé après la guerre d'Indépendance, qui a eu lieu seulement vingt ans avant les événements du livre. L'absence totale d'opposition dans le pays et l'acceptation de la crise qui a suivi la guerre est beaucoup trop éloignée du réelle. Personne ne semble regretter le passé, et les familles divisées, les traumas de la guerre ou toutes les thématiques connexes n'existent juste pas en Ecotopia.
4) L'écologie présentée, c'est avant tout faire du tri, vénérer des arbres et fumer de la marijuana. J'exagère un peu, mais les enjeux véritablement politiques de la révolution écologique sont très peu présents, et s'appuyent souvent sur la technologie ou sur des raccourcis philosophique, comme si la Californie était soudain devenu un peuple autarcique qui respectait le vivant en trois semaines.
Il y a tout de même quelques bons points, genre la thématisation du coût social ou une volonté d'envisager une société plus féministe (à défaut d'y parvenir), mais c'est noyé dans le reste.
December 4, 2024
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach is a Utopia science fiction. The author has mentioned that it is also a politic fiction because the conflict of Ecotopia between U.S is the major part in the second half of the book. I really adore of this book introduce a prosperous future society with probabilities co-existing with nature. The concepts about biodegradable products and recycling sources and eco-friendly energy that provide people merry suburb life than urban cities have. The culture, educations and technologies in Ecotopia quite are differentiate from U.S. in the end of the story that the journalist finally accepted living in Ecotopia, embracing the culture differences.
The story is like a travelogue, not in a usual novel form; with some fascinating concepts of what a respectable culture of nature would be. Definitely worth a read if you care for the environment we are living in which 21th century. Might make your introspect what we have done to generate pollution , deforest and so on to our environment.
8 out of 10.
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