Ecotopia is a
novel written by Ernest Callenbach. The book was released in 1974 and is set in
a futuristic society in 1999. The novel is set in a fictional ecological utopia
in which Northern California, Oregon, and Washington have seceded from the
United States, forming the new nation of Ecotopia. The protagonist of the story
is an international affairs reporter named William Weston. He works for the
Times-Post in New York and has been sent to write a series of articles that
document the Ecotopian way of life. He will be the first U.S. citizen to visit
Ecotopia in nearly 20 years and is scheduled to spend 6 weeks there. The format
of the novel is set up as a series of Will’s diary entries as well as his
professional articles. At first William is very skeptical of Ecotopia and
believes that the people there are aggressive and volatile. There is a lot of
tension between the U.S. and Ecotopia, only exacerbated by the economic
depression that America experienced after the succession. Despite his initial
bias, William is impressed by the various forms of transportation in Ecotopia.
They have magnetic suspension trains, battery driven minibuses, and free
bicycles littered throughout the streets. He is soon invited into a group home
with several journalist and writers. The home is called “The Cove.” The Ecotopian
people are described as loose, and playful. They show strong emotions in public
and engage in shouting matches regularly. There is very little crime however.
William feels uncomfortable with the amount of eye contact people share in
Ecotopia. This is an indication of the lack of intimacy William and many
Americans experience. On a trip to a forestry camp he meets a woman named
Marissa Brightcloud. They quickly become lovers. William has a wife named Pat,
two children, and a lover named Francine back in the states. Marissa is fine
with this arrangement and has a lover as well. William continues to publish his
articles, including one on the African American populations in the Ecotopia.
They live in a city-state called “Soul City.” It is a form of voluntary
segregation. This is a reflection of the black nationalism of the 1970’s and a
reaction to complications surrounding integration. Callenbach recalled this part
of his book in an interview and admitted that he would not have included this
aspect of the novel if he had written it today. Along with racially charged
themes, there are sexist portrayals of women. William sleeps with several women
during his stay and no one seems to think anything of it. There are strong
influences of the free-love movement of the 1960’s in the novel. William is
roped into a “war game” where two groups of men charge at each other with
spears. The men drink stimulant from a cauldron and start the scrimmage.
William learns that 50 men die in the war games every year. It is supposed to
be an expression of physical competitiveness that allows men to release pent up
aggressions. Women do not participate in the games. William gets pierced in his
side during the game and is hospitalized. He recovers in time to speak to
Ecotopia’s Chief of State, Vera Allwen. Ecotopia has a woman-run government
with female leader Allwen. William tries to convince her to rejoin Ecotopia
with the U.S. She rejects his proposal, but does set up trade with the U.S.
William falls into a depression and is kidnapped by his friends at the Cove.
They take him to a hot spring resort until he comes to the conclusion that he
should stay in Ecotopia. William does not seem like a good husband or father,
as he only mentions that he might get his children to stay with him during the
summer. They seem like an afterthought to him. Despite racist and sexist
themes, Ecotopia contains many ideas
that were revolutionary at its time of publication. It spurred an ecological
movement and brought a hopeful message of sustainability to the world.
Ecotopia Midterm
https://envirojpo.blogspot.com/2018/10/ecotopia_10.html
State of Fear comment
Interstellar comment
"There are strong influences of the free-love movement of the 1960’s in the novel" - mostly not for the better, would you agree? Same for "Soul City," a now-dated reflection of civil rights era divisions from the perspective of a bewildered white observer? And the war games are pathetic (though it's good that Ecotopia prefers participatory to spectator sports-too bad they couldn't find a nonviolent sport, and one without gender exclusion!)... But, there's still plenty to like in Callenbach's vision. I hope someone will write Ecotopia 2.0 - maybe it'll look something like the Morgan Freeman world we exited on.
ReplyDeleteWith all the hate in the world now-a-days do you think it's possible the United States adopts this "Ecotopian" lifestyle, or maybe just certain cities would adopt that lifestyle? I honestly hope this isn't something that would happen because I believe for us to thrive as a community we have to come together as one, but so many people are only concerned for themselves. Did you enjoy this novel? This was one of the novels I was looking into reading.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that in the story northern California, Oregon, Washington secede from the Union while currently we have California proclaiming the same threat. I wonder if the author predicted that and or has that area always been the most likely to leave. Having said that, would current day California be as successful in their secession as Ecotopia was? It's a fascinating world to explore.
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