Living in Utopia in the 19th Century A Comparison of France and the United States

Concrete utopias have received little international comparison. In order to contribute to a comparative sociology of such social experiments, this article is interested in the case of France and the United States in the 19th century. To mirror concerns that were important at that time in both of these countries (the "social question" and the "question of women"), attention is focused on local experiments where work and gender were the subject of some notable innovations. After highlighting the form, importance and dynamics of abstract and concrete utopias in France and the United States, two communities inspired by C. Fourier are compared: the Familistere de Guise (France), and the Oneida Association (United States). If both learn about the Fourierist utopia, they put it into practice differently, in particular because of issues specific to each of the two countries.