French Utopian Socialists Coming to America: The Transformation of Etienne Cabet’s Icarian Colony in Nauvoo

Authors

John McCorquindale, Brigham Young University
Dr. Daryl Lee, Brigham Young University

Keywords

French utopian socialists, Etienne Cabet, Icarian colonies, Nauvoo

College

Humanities

Department

French and Italian

Abstract

While many of the definitively American utopian groups have received a good deal of curious attention in the past century, the Icarian colonies are relatively unknown. Maybe it is because of their less accessible French background, or because their iconoclastic leader Etienne Cabet (who once garnered 95, 000 votes in the French presidential elections), died in total obscurity, that this mysterious community has disappeared almost entirely from the American consciousness and social tapestry. Whatever the reason, a unique cultural collision that provides insight into the effects of location on beliefs and practices is often overlooked, by both historians and sociologists alike. This communitarian colony, however short-lived, provides an interesting case study of an established utopian dogma, completely juxtaposed onto a foreign spatial and cultural framework.

Recommended Citation

McCorquindale, John and Lee, Dr. Daryl (2014) "French Utopian Socialists Coming to America: The Transformation of Etienne Cabet’s Icarian Colony in Nauvoo," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 631.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/631