Everyday Utopia

An uplifting tour of better ways to live together, own property, have families and raise children. The traditional ''nuclear'' family home is a problem: it places unfair and unnecessary burdens on women (and men too), it entrenches inequalities, it entraps us financially and it hinders certain kinds of child development. In some ways it is the most fundamental obstacle we face to a fairer society. Also, it doesn''t seem to make us very happy. And yet throughout history and around the world today, forward-thinking communities have pioneered alternative ways of living - from the all-female ''beguinages'' of medieval Belgium to the matriarchal ecovillages of contemporary Colombia; from the ancient Greek commune founded by Pythagoras, where men and women lived as equals and shared property, to present-day Connecticut, where new laws make it easier for extra ''alloparents'' to help raise children not their own. Some of these experiments burned brightly and briefly; others are living proof of what is possible. Everyday Utopia upends our assumptions and raises our sights by gathering these and many more inspiring examples into a radically hopeful and practical vision of more contented and connected ways of living.

Auteur

Kristen Ghodsee is a feminist ethnographer and the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism. She is professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in anthropology and cultural studies. Her articles and essays have appeared in many publications including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Texte du rabat

A practical and uplifting vision of better ways to live together, own property, have families and raise children, from the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism.

'Kristen Ghodsee is back with another splendid insight: utopia can and ought to be an everyday thing. In every home. Invigorating writing for a cheerless era' YANIS VAROUFAKIS

'History is made by the dreamers ... A must-read' THOMAS PIKETTY

The traditional 'nuclear' family home is a problem: it places unfair and unnecessary burdens on women (and men too), it entrenches inequalities, it entraps us financially and it hinders certain kinds of child development. Also, it doesn't seem to make us very happy.

And yet throughout history and around the world today, forward-thinking communities have pioneered alternative ways of living - from the all-female 'beguinages' of medieval Belgium to the matriarchal ecovillages of contemporary Colombia; from the ancient Greek commune founded by Pythagoras, where men and women lived as equals and shared property, to present-day Connecticut, where new laws make it easier for extra 'alloparents' to help raise children not their own. Some of these experiments burned brightly and briefly; others are living proof of what is possible.

Everyday Utopia upends our assumptions and raises our sights by gathering these and many more inspiring examples together, arguing that many of the most important and effective ways of changing our lives and the world are to be found in the home. The result is a radically hopeful and practical vision of more connected - and contented - ways of living.

'Liberating and inspirational, a sweeping feminist history of society at its most creative' ADA CALHOUN, author of Why We Can't Sleep