Cooperation and control: Bellamy

David Reisman

Chapter 10 in Economy and Utopia, 2026, pp 142-172 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Bellamy in Looking Backward compares the before of Boston in 1887 to the after of Boston in 2000. Entirely because of consensus and not at all because of violent revolution, Boston had converted from anti-Christian values, class-based exploitation, demand-deficient unemployment and the uneconomic underperformance of the managerial corporation to a communist utopia of bureaucratic coordination, material abundance, the common ownership of land and capital. Both matter and mind had contributed to the changeover. Bellamy envisaged a reconstruction of human relationships in accordance with the principles of solidarity, tolerance, equality of condition, equality of respect and political democracy. Society was recognisably organic. We all contribute to each other's wellbeing. The wastes of advertising, display, fashion, emulation and excess had disappeared. The system had become more scientific, more facts-based, more cooperative, more dynamic, less trapped in static control mechanisms and heuristics that stunt its moral and economic development. Education and healthcare liberate. Work, however, remains a chore and not an outlet for creativity. Shorter hours afford opportunities for sociability and culture.

Keywords: Economic Failure; Solidarity; Organicism; Politics; Science; Work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035368600
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