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measurable and comparable), a centralized bank system, mass distribution, etc. It is exactly this basic anonymity and non-responsibility of everyone for everything that causes and permits all those mechanisms of destruction of nature and people. As
Callenbach poses these mechanisms as a moral problem (respect for nature, etc.), he needs a (very sympathetic, very democratic, even feminized) central State (The Big Sister) to repair the damage done by the system, through price controls, regulations, laws and prisons (of course, these latter only "training camps"). What he allows economically he has to forbid politically: the space for morality is opened. (Thou shalt not....)
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in his external pronouncements to his readers. Despite Weston's initial reservations, throughout the novel
Ecotopian citizens are characterized as clever, technologically resourceful, emotionally expressive, and even occasionally violent – but also socially responsible, patriotic. They often live in extended families, and tend to live by choice in ethnically separated localities. Their economic enterprises are generally employee-owned and -controlled. The current governmental administration is that of a woman-led (but not exclusively female) party, and government structures are highly decentralized.
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and later. Even the names of the two characters most reflective of their respective viewpoints—"Will West(on)", the representative for materialist
American culture and "Vera Allwen" (= "All women + all men"), the President and spokeswoman for Ecotopia—suggest the degree to which the author intended the book to be a reflection of what he saw as American ecological and cultural deficiencies.
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no guns or arrows. The games are not re-enactments. Physical injuries, occasionally serious, are considered part of the game. Ecotopians on the whole value the benefits to young males over the accidental injuries. Ecotopia also tolerates the voluntary separatism of many people of
African descent who have, in fact, chosen to live in a mini-nation in the
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was reviewed by Brian Smith, identifying himself as a child not of the 1960s but the 1980s. He read the novel 30 years after it was first published, and said of it: "I felt great affinity for the details of the world
Callenbach predicted. Even better, I was impressed by how many of his ideas came to
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The values embodied by those
Ecotopians depicted in the novel reflect the values espoused by its author. Callenbach said that his Ecotopians attach fundamental importance to environmental and social stability within which variety can flourish. They value creativity. They ensure equality for women.
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thinkers decried the consumption and overabundance that they perceived as characteristic of post-World War II America. The citizens of
Ecotopia share a common aim: a balance between themselves and nature. They were "literally sick of bad air, chemicalized food, and lunatic advertising. They turned to
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just as they did before. It is nonsense to propose a system of direct, personal and ecological exchange and to permit at the same time the vehicle of anonymous, indirect, centralized circulation (money). Money as a general means of measurement presupposes mass-production (only in this case are goods
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The importance of this book is not so much its literary style as in the lively imagination of an alternative and ecologically sound lifestyle on a greater scale, presented more or less realistically. It expressed on paper the dream of an alternative future held by many in the movements of the 1970s
405:
Through Weston's diary we learn of observations he does not include in his columns, such as his personally transformative love affair with an
Ecotopian woman. The book's parallel narrative structures allow the reader to see how Weston's internal reflections, as recorded in his diary, are diffracted
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use is evident. Televised passive, mass-media, spectator sports have been displaced in favor of local arts coverage, local participatory sports, and general fitness. A large fraction of young male
Ecotopians participate voluntarily in a decidedly male ritual of mock warfare using wooden spears but
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Callenbach placed the genesis of
Ecotopia with an article he researched and wrote titled "The Scandal of Our Sewage". Besides the important social dimensions of the story, he talked publicly about being influenced, during work on the novel, by many streams of thought: scientific discoveries in
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Ecotopian society has favored decentralized and renewable energy production and green building construction. The citizens are technologically creative, while remaining involved with and sensitive to nature. Thorough-going education reform is described, along with a highly localized system of
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However, in contrast to much of the Green movement in contemporary America, with its preference for regulation, Callenbach's Ecotopia has relatively laissez-faire economic tendencies, guided by intense moral pressure toward sustainable practices both in private life and in business.
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Callenbach said of the story, in relation to Americans: "It is so hard to imagine anything fundamentally different from what we have now. But without these alternate visions, we get stuck on dead center. And we’d better get ready. We need to know where we’d like to go."
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targets the fact that many people did not feel that the market or the government were serving them in the way they wanted them to. This book could be interpreted as "a protest against consumerism and materialism, among other aspects of American life."
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politics because it was finally the only route to self-preservation." In the mid-20th century as "firms grew in size and complexity citizens needed to know the market would still serve the interests of those for whom it claimed to exist". Callenbach's
398:
universal medical care. (The narrator discovers that Ecotopian healing practices may include sexual stimulation.) The national defense strategy has focused on developing a highly advanced arms industry, while also allegedly maintaining hidden
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At the beginning, Weston is skeptically curious about, not yet sympathetic to the Ecotopians. He describes details of the Ecotopian transportation system and the preferred lifestyle. This includes a wide range of gender roles,
352:
in 1980 following an economic collapse that lead to the dissolution of the US. Prior to Weston's reporting, most Americans had been barred from entering the new country, which is depicted as being on continual guard against
248:, and attitudes that were common in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The "leading edges" (his main ideas for Ecotopian values and practices) were patterns in actual social experimentation taking place in the
448:
mentions that the daily life of the legislature and some of that of the judicial courts is televised in Ecotopia. Even highly technical debates are televised, addressing the needs and desires of Ecotopian viewers.
223:
in the 1970s and thereafter. The author himself claimed that the society he depicted in the book is not a true utopia (in the sense of a perfect society), but, while guided by societal intentions and values, was
299:
toward technology, so that not only human health and sanity might be preserved, but also social and ecological wellbeing. For example, Callenbach's story anticipated the development and liberal usage of
272:
and others. Much of the environmentally benign energy, home building and transportation technology described by the author was based on his reading of research findings published in such journals as
373:
is a lost cause, and was most likely destroyed. The novel takes its form as a narrative from Weston's diary in combination with dispatches that he transmits to his publication, the fictional
460:-like device that would then print and bind the book. In the 21st century, POD services that print, bind and ship books for customers who order on-line have become commonplace.
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technology) as long as it does not interfere with the Ecotopian social order and serves the overall objectives. Members of his fictional society prefer to demonstrate a
850:
573:, "'Ecotopia' became almost immediately absorbed into the popular culture. You hear people talking about the idea of Ecotopia, or about the Northwest as Ecotopia."
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of valuable materials and substances by the society; he saw a much-expanded role for recycling of all sorts, and this is key to many concepts underpinning Ecotopia.
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The book is set in 1999 (25 years in the future from 1974) and consists of diary entries and reports of journalist William Weston, who is the first American
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497:). The tape-recorded diaries of William Weston were read by the book's author, Ernest Callenbach. Weston's reports were read by veteran news reporter
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The novel concludes with Weston's finding himself enchanted by Ecotopian life and deciding to stay in Ecotopia as its interpreter to the wider world.
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is a shoddy amalgam of Swedish social democracy, Swiss neutrality, and Yugoslav workers' co-ops cobbled together with the authoritarianism of
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788:""Life in a Desirable Future," a talk at the Rubenstein School for Environment & Natural Resources at the University of Vermont"
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praised the book, noting that "None of the happy conditions in Ecotopia are beyond the technical or resource reach of our society."
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As well, they treasure personal quality-of-life values, such as health and friendliness, and both meaningful discussion and play.
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ecology and conservation biology; the urban-ecology movement, concerned with a new approach to urban planning; and the
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Worth mentioning is Callenbach's speculation on the roles of TV in his envisioned society. The author espoused the
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They implement the protection and restoration of natural systems. They promote food production in their cities.
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J. Hollm: Die angloamerikanische Ökotopie: Literarische Entwürfe einer grünen Welt. Frankfurt am Main: Lang 1998.
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genre of direct political-process broadcasts, deeming them valuable to the citizenry. In some ways anticipating
20:
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K.T. Goldbach, "Utopian Music: Music History of the Future in Novels by Bellamy, Callenbach and Huxley", in:
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482:, a multi-strand "prequel" suggesting how the sustainable nation of Ecotopia could have come into existence.
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According to Scott Timberg, quoting University of Nevada environmental-literature professor Scott Slovic in
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Free for All Lesbians: Lesbian Cultural Production and Consumption in the United States during the 1970s
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pass." influenced the identity of the West Coast in an interesting way and influenced the rise of
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Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism
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Uwe Meyer: "Selling an 'ecological religion'. Strategies of Persuasion in Ernest Callenbach's
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252:. To draw an example, Callenbach's fictional Crick School was based on Pinel School, an
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conducts ongoing research into future Green Utopias in urban settings around the world.
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658:'s book about a North American secession into nine nations, one of them being Ecotopia
211:, published in 1975. The society described in the book is one of the first ecological
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H. Tschachler, "Despotic Reason in Arcadia. Ernest Callenbach's Ecological Utopias",
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on audiocassettes in the form of recordings of a radio network broadcast (the
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Von Platon bis zur Global Governance. Entwürfe für menschliches Zusammenleben
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Counterculture Green: The Whole Earth Catalog and American Environmentalism
849:• Hilton, Matthew. "Consumers and the State Since the Second World War."
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within major US population centers to discourage conquest and annexation.
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924:(Third ed.). Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia/Ardent. pp. 156–7.
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The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
690:""Ecotopia Then & Now," an interview with Ernest Callenbach"
824:. Journal of the History of Sexuality 16, no. 2 (2007): 251-68.
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In 1990, Audio Renaissance released a partial dramatization of
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was written and published, many prominent counterculture and
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and started the desire for West Coast unity in the form of
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Callenbach wove his story using the fiber of technologies,
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Utopia Matters. Theory, Politics, Literature and the Arts
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reporter to investigate Ecotopia, a small country that
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739:. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p.86.
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Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston
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Profile of an ecologically utopian town in California
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Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston
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Callenbach began writing the novel by depicting the
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This article is about the book. For other uses, see
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452:Another interesting detail in the story is "
394:in order to protect themselves from racism.
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646:'s novel exploring similar utopian concepts
955:R. Frye, "The Economics of Ecotopia", in:
634:'s exploring the roots of environmentalism
444:, which would first be broadcast in 1979,
357:. The new nation of Ecotopia consists of
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332:, makes implicit reference to this book.
758:"A Green-Powered Trip to Eco-Solartopia"
580:, P.M. criticizes Callenbach by saying:
559:is a flawed vision of a flawed future."
328:", as a subgenre of science fiction and
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260:, and attended for a time by his son.
535:Don Milligan in the British magazine
287:Callenbach's concept does not reject
83:(self-published as Banyan Tree Books)
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865:"A Child of Dystopia Reads Ecotopia"
720:"The Novel That Predicted Portland"
688:Callenbach, Ernest; Heddle, James.
1038:Fictional North American countries
718:Timberg, Scott (14 December 2008)
432:Anticipation of emerging realities
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1073:Novels set in fictional countries
980:. Marburg 2010, pp. 253–280.
884:Milligan, Don. "Utopia Limited".
952:132 (Fall 2006), pp. 42–49.
756:Wasserman, Harvey (25 May 2011)
616:Cascadia (independence movement)
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584:Dollars keep circulating in his
125:Print (hardback & paperback)
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1053:Separatism in the United States
899:"Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach"
413:Values exemplified in the novel
16:1975 novel by Ernest Callenbach
888:2977. 25 August 1978, (p.14).
476:In 1981, Callenbach published
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651:Nine Nations of North America
987:11 (1984), pp. 304–317.
545:a negative review, stating "
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1043:Environmental fiction books
392:San Francisco East Bay-area
215:and was influential on the
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1033:Fictional future countries
1028:Books by Ernest Callenbach
853:611, no. 66 (2007): 66-81.
833:Callenbach, Ernest (1990)
92:30th-Anniversary edition,
40:Cover of the first edition
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1008:The Ecotopia 2121 Project
959:3 (1980), pp. 71–81.
837:. New York: Bantam Books.
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21:Ecotopia (disambiguation)
735:Kirk, Andrew G. (2007).
552:A Blueprint for Survival
228:perfect and in-process.
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985:Science-Fiction Studies
811:Kirk, Andrew G. (2007)
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307:During the 1970s when
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297:conscious selectivity
1058:1975 American novels
786:Callenbach, Ernest.
562:In marked contrast,
506:Earth Island Journal
369:; it is hinted that
266:soft-energy movement
258:Martinez, California
183:PS3553.A424 E35 1990
998:Ecotopia Foundation
957:Alternative Futures
491:Allied News Network
371:Southern California
359:Northern California
275:Scientific American
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724:The New York Times
571:The New York Times
254:alternative school
1078:Cascadia movement
931:978-1-57027-241-7
820:Murray, Heather.
745:978-0-7006-1545-2
479:Ecotopia Emerging
326:ecotopian fiction
302:videoconferencing
209:Ernest Callenbach
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974:Ecotopia
870:21 April
835:Ecotopia
780:and the
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557:Ecotopia
547:Ecotopia
543:Ecotopia
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487:Ecotopia
446:Ecotopia
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905:12 May
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363:Oregon
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96:(2005)
89:(1977)
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541:gave
130:Pages
64:Genre
926:ISBN
907:2012
872:2013
795:2013
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697:2013
291:(or
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139:ISBN
109:1975
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