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8/10/2019 No Place for Women? Anti-utopianism and the Utopian Politics of the 1890s
1/28
No Place for Women? Anti-utopianism and the Utopian
Politics of the 1890s 1
Judy Green ay
!ntroduction
' Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible', and 'Take Your Desires for Reality'
went the 19 ! "ituationist slo#ans$ This article e%amines some of the
ways in which the polarisation between the realistic and the impossible
#ets set up& the mo e from utopia as a place that does not e%ist, to one
which cannot e%ist$ It also raises the (uestions& )hose desires* )hose
reality* +%amples of women's writin#s about utopian politics in late
nineteenth century +n#land show constructions of the relationship
between utopian and non utopian space which render utopia as always
elsewhere$ -eanwhile utopian space is often represented as masculine or
ase%ual, su##estin# that it is no place for women$
.topias, whether fictional or real life instances, are amon#st other thin#se%periments / with ima#ination as a method, hope as a moti ation, and
social chan#e as a #oal$ 0s incent 2eo#ehan ar#ues& '0n impractical,
unrealistic utopianism cannot be counterposed to a practical non utopian
realism, for utopianism can issue forth in both practical and impractical
forms$' 3
4ow, then, has the common sense belief that utopia is self e idently
impossible been produced* 0lthou#h many theorists of utopia point out
the ambi#uity of the word itself 5'utopia' in its deri ation meanin# both
#ood place and no place6, this kind of terminolo#ical point does not
e%plain why the ambi#uity e%ists$ 7 The appeal to realism and reality
similarly be#s the (uestion / after all, much of what seemed impossible
in the past has become the taken for #ranted reality of the present$
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I ar#ue that the e eryday notion of utopia as inherently impossible is
produced and reproduced throu#h the repetition of narrati es and ima#ery
which construct a time that is not now, but once upon a time8 a place
which is not here, but somewhere o er the rainbow$
:or e%ample, in utopian fiction, the story usually starts off in a non
utopian here and now assumed to be shared by the readers$ )e then
accompany a narrator, both e%plorer and anthropolo#ist, to a utopian
world characterised by its otherness, its spatial and temporal distance
from our own$ The detailed descriptions and e%planations make the
utopian world appear realistic but at the same time emphasise its
difference 5and distance6$ The story usually ends with the tra eller'sreturn home, perhaps brin#in# back some utopian ideas for chan#e, but in
any case lea in# utopia behind$ )hate er the author's intentions, the
narrati e structure has a distancin# effect on the reader, and to that
e%tent feeds into e%istin# anti utopian ideas$
0 similar kind of effect can be seen in autobio#raphies, where former
en#a#ement with utopian ideas and practices is distanced by tellin# thestory in such a way that past hopes become almost ine%plicable / at best
the product of i#norance and nai ety$ ;haracteristically, a now older and
wiser narrator recounts the past as the space of youth, dream and
fantasy, a place and time somehow outside the real world of political
maturity and adult #ender relations$
0nti utopianism is ideolo#ical& in 2eo#ehan's words, 'a conflict between
dreams mas(ueradin# as an attack on dreamin#'$ < 0nti utopianism uses
fatalism as a method, pessimism as 5de6moti ation, with disen#a#ement,
passi ity or resistance to chan#e as the #oal$ Instruction in anti
utopianism is not =ust by means of repeated reminders of seemin#ly
intractable dystopias such as war, terror, oppression, and en ironmental
de#radation, but by the endless reiteration of narrati es of the ine itable
failure of utopias$
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This can be seen in histories of utopian e%periments, which are often told
in such a way that lack of success seems predetermined$ +ndin# is
conflated with failure, and e%planations of failure become not a challen#e
to think how to do thin#s better, but a demonstration that utopias will
ine itably fail$ >ften there is a double standard, so that the failure of a
non utopian pro=ect is seen as particular8 that of a utopian pro=ect,
typical$
In these ways the narrati e con entions of utopian fiction, autobio#raphy
and history ser e to locate actual as well as fictional utopian e%periments
in a world not =ust ima#inary but always elsewhere, unreal and unrealistic,
implicitly or e%plicitly impossible$ In this conte%t e en sympatheticrepresentations lend themsel es to ne#ati e interpretation$
"uch processes can be seen in contemporary accounts of utopian politics
in 1!9?s +n#land$ The term 'utopian' was used at the time as a pe=orati e
description of attempts to chan#e society by transformin# personal
relationships, especially those between men and women$ ;ritics from the
ri#ht used the word in its e eryday sense of hopelessly unrealistic8 thosefrom the left drew also on +n#els' contrast between 'utopian' and
'scientific' 5i$e$ -ar%ist6 socialism$ @ Aeople described as utopians mi#ht
accept the term and seek to redefine it positi ely& more often they would
ar#ue that they were not utopians, but that their beliefs were scientifically
based and or practically attainable$ I use 'utopian politics' and related
terms here to refer to ideas, mo ements and practices which sou#ht to try
out new kinds of social relations$ "uch e%periments were part of what
Ruth Ce itas calls 'the education of desire $$$ for a better way of bein#
and li in#'$ ! In this sense, utopian politics is about creatin# spaces that
can be rehearsal rooms for chan#e$ "uch spaces may be te%tual, spaces
for the ima#ination8 or physical, a makin# of literal spaces where social
relations can be reconfi#ured$
0s the twentieth century approached, the #rowin# anarchist and socialist
mo ements shared a widespread optimism about the future, reflected inthe abundance of rhetoric about the comin# ew 0#e or ew )orld, to be
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inhabited by ew )omen / and e en perhaps ew -en 5thou#h the
latter term was less common6$ )hile the bur#eonin# of ' ew )oman'
fiction #enerated new literary spaces, this period also saw the flourishin#
of numerous attempts to create both rural and urban utopian
communities, places where new ideas could be tried out in practice$ 9 0mid
fierce debates about the transformation of society, about the boundaries
between public and pri ate, personal and political, male and female
worlds, some #roups of men and women determined to li e out their
politics$
The four books which I will discuss here were all written by women who
were directly in ol ed in this milieu$ I ha e chosen them not because theyor their authors are particularly well known or influential, but as si#ns of
the times, historical clues to the aried ways in which a particular kind of
politics was li ed throu#h and represented$ Thus althou#h the main focus
of my analysis is on the processes of representation within the te%ts
themsel es, I also discuss aspects of the li ed e%periences of the authors$
I look first at three no els which fictionalise the authors' e%periences inorder to comment on the possibilities of personal and social chan#e$ 1? A
Girl Among the Anarchists , by Isabel -eredith 5pseudonym of sisters
4elen and >li ia Rossetti6, deals with the makin# of spaces for the
practice of politics, the relationship between domestic and political space,
and the ways in the latter denies or e%cludes issues of #ender and
se%uality$ Attainment , by +dith Cees 5writin# under her married name of
-rs$ 4a elock +llis6, is about an unsuccessful attempt to mer#e the
domestic and the political by settin# up a co operati e household of men
and women$ In both these no els, the heroines are unable to de elop
themsel es freely, and abandon the e%periments$ The Image Breakers , by
2ertrude Di%, criti(ues con entional domesticity as well as arious forms
of utopianism, while dealin# more centrally and e%plicitly with #ender and
se%ual politics$ Te%tually, at least, a new space is created for female
desire$ But as in the other no els, neither 'real' 5that is, socially
con entional6 life nor utopia can pro ide this$ The fourth book discussed isWhiteway , by ellie "haw, a non fiction account by a member of a
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successful utopian community in which #ender politics has played a
central part$
A "irl amon" the anarchists
A Girl Among the Anarchists , published in 19?7, is based on the Rossetti
sisters' in ol ement in the anarchist mo ement, in particular their
e%periences from 1!91 as editors and publishers of a =ournal called the
Torch $ 0lthou#h they were not directly in ol ed in settin# up a utopian
community as such, the Torch and its offices pro ided te%tual and physical
space for the de elopment of a political community, out of which such
e%periments could de elop$
)hen they be#an the paper, assisted by their fourteen year old brother
0rthur, 4elen was twel e, and >li ia si%teen$ They were part of an acti ely
political and artistic household, and their bohemian parents reluctantly
tolerated their anarchist acti ities as somethin# they would #row out of$
>thers took them more seriously / contributors included writers 2eor#e
Bernard "haw and :ord -ado% :ord, anarchist feminist +mma 2oldman,and the artist Cucien Aissarro$ Initially, the Torch was hand produced in
the study of the Rossetti home near Re#ent's Aark in Condon$ The paper
was sold at outdoor political meetin#s, at railway stations, and in the
street8 as its circulation #rew, necessitatin# the purchase of a printin#
press, -rs$ Rossetti insisted that production be mo ed to the basement,
which became an anarchist meetin# place as well as an office$ 0s historian
Barry Eohnson comments, ';onsi#ned to a re#ion of the house normally
fre(uented only by ser ants, the youn# comrades were able to disport
themsel es in a way which would ha e been impossible upstairs$' 11
0fter their mother died, their father insisted that the whole enterprise be
cleared out of the house, and it was mo ed to rented premises8 there
ceased to be any si#nificant o erlap between the spaces of political and
domestic life$ 0lthou#h they continued their in ol ement for another two
years, they no lon#er wrote for it, and by the time the paper e entuallycollapsed in 1!9@, both sisters had already mo ed on to other thin#s$ 13
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In their early twenties when they wrote A Girl among the Anarchists , they
represent their acti ities of less than a decade before as immature
idealism$ The book parallels the structure of many utopian no els, written
in autobio#raphical style with a first person narrator, the plot takin#
second place to detailed e%positions of the physical characteristics and
belief systems of an unfamiliar world$ The reader is thus positioned as
someone from the 'real' or non utopian world$
0s the no el opens, the narrator, ei#hteen year old Isabel, is con eniently
orphaned$ "he be#ins to attend political meetin#s and is swept up in the
pleasurable e%citement of challen#in# con ention$ Becomin# morally andintellectually committed to social chan#e, she decides to abandon class
pre=udice and 'throw myself into the life and the work of the masses'$ 17
4er way of doin# this is to learn typesettin# and printin# so that she can
=oin a #roup of anarchists in startin# a =ournal, the Tocsin $
The space of anarchist practice is e%oticised, described in lan#ua#e more
reminiscent of tra el writin# or ethno#raphy&To the ordinary citiFen whose walk in life lies alon# the beaten track
there is a su##estion of Bohemianism about the office of any
literary or propa#andist or#an8 but I doubt whether the most
ima#inati e amon# them in their wildest moments ha e e er
concei ed any re#ion so far remo ed from the con entions of
ci ilised society, so arbitrary in its hours and customs, so
cosmopolitan and so utterly irrational as the office of the Tocsin $
Its inhabitants include, as well as '#enuine 0narchists', a 'stran#e medley
of $$$ tramps, dGsoeu rGs cranks, ar#umentati e people with time on their
hands, and $$$ downri#ht lunatics$ :orei#ners of all ton#ues $$$ ' 1 The
office, as well as bein# a place for printin# and publishin# the paper,
'rapidly became a factory, a debatin# club, a school, a hospital, a
madhouse, a soup kitchen and a sort of Rowton 4ouse, all in one'$ 1ne man tells her, 'You are not a woman& you are a ;omrade', and
this de #endered persona allows her, for e%ample, to sleep on the office
floor beside the men after workin# late, without this ha in# any se%ual
connotations$ 1 The most politically dedicated of the men re=ect any kind
of domesticity, seein# se%ual or emotional relationships as a distraction
from the ;ause$ )hen Isabel declares her lo e to one of them, he
responds by tellin# her that '0n 0narchist's life is not his own$ :riendship,
comradeship may be helpful, but family ties are fatal $$$ I thou#ht of you
as a comrade and lo ed you as such'$ 1@ This ri#idity of approach is
presented as masculine adherence to abstract principle, and e entually
Isabel can no lon#er accept it$
In her introduction to the 1993 reprint, Eennifer "haddock says that at the
end, Isabel 'is en#ulfed by the ubi(uitous bour#eois metaphor of 4ome'$ 1!
But the conclusion is more ambi#uous than that$ In the final chapter,
echoin# the complaints a#ainst domesticity made by other rebellious
middle class women of the period, Isabel says,
I had allowed myself to be stran#ely preoccupied and flustered bytrifles$ )hat were these important duties which had so absorbed
me as to lea e me no time for thou#ht, for study, no time to li e
my own life* 19
But for her it is not domestic duties, but political commitment that
distracts her from the real business of li in# her own life$ 4er comrades
ha e been shown to be either noble but deluded men who suppress all
human instinct or all too human #rotes(ues$ 0lready sufferin# from a
sense of political futility and depressed by tensions within the #roup,
Isabel #oes to the Tocsin office, only to find it occupied by the police$ The
forces of order ha e thrown it into a state of 'wild disorder', and the
landlord #i es them notice to (uit$ 3? Disillusioned with the possibilities for
social chan#e or personal happiness, she decides to lea e the anarchist
world she has helped create$ Its physical and mental spaces ha e become
uninhabitable$ But Isabel does not #o home$ "he says #oodbye to her
comrades and walks out into the Condon streets$ If anarchist space isimpossible space, so too is 'home'$
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Attainment
The attempt to politically reconfi#ure 'home' is a central issue in
Attainment , by +dith Cees, which is closely based on her in ol ement at
the be#innin# of the 1!9?s in the utopian socialist :ellowship of the ew
Cife$ ;allin# in its constitution for personal as well as social
transformation, the :ellowship's main aim was 'the culti ation of a perfect
character'8 its methods included simplicity of li in# and 'the introduction
as far as possible of manual labour in con=unction with intellectual
pursuits'$ 31 The constitution was written in the early 1!!?s8 by the end of
that decade #ender was playin# a more important part in ideas aboutwhat personal and social transformation mi#ht in ol e$
0lthou#h characterised by their critics as idealists who set themsel es the
hopeless task of achie in# personal perfection before social chan#e could
come about, :ellowship members and others in ol ed in settin# up
e%periments in community li in# saw themsel es as the practical ones,
in ol ed in workin# out at a personal le el what a new life could be like$:or women in particular, such enterprises in ol ed a rethinkin# of the
relationship between domestic and political space, and the ways in which
such spaces were #endered$
These issues were addressed directly in +dith Cees' life and writin#$ Cees
became secretary of the :ellowship in 1!9?, and the followin# year she
=oined a few of its members in settin# up :ellowship 4ouse, a co operati e
boardin# house in Condon's Bloomsbury, then a relati ely cheap bohemian
area$ Its hetero#eneous inhabitants included& +llen Taylor, who was Cees'
companion ser ant8 0#nes 4enry, who irritated e eryone by discussin#
anarchism o er breakfast 5I will say more about her later68 "ydney >li ier,
then workin# at the colonial office8 and future Cabour Arime -inister
Ramsay -acDonald$ It was an e%periment in collecti e li in# that ran into
familiar problems o er money, housework, and personal
incompatibilities$ 33
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Years later, in a parody of )illiam -orris's slo#an, ':ellowship is Cife', +dith
Cees would comment that ':ellowship is 4ell'$ 37 0fter ei#hteen months, she
left to embark on an uncon entional marria#e with 4a elock +llis, a
founder member of the :ellowship of the ew Cife who had ne er been
tempted by community li in#$ 0lthou#h she had re=ected that particular
e%periment, +dith Cees was one of a small number of women at the time
ad ocatin# 'semi detached marria#e', where the wife was economically
independent and had separate li in# space if not a separate household$ 3
Cees had passionate se%ual relationships with women before and after her
marria#e, and althou#h she and +llis belie ed in se%ual freedom, li in# up
to their principles was to pro e difficult for both partners, emotionally and
financially$ 3n the hilltops, she
tells them, si% miles from the nearest railway and town,
)hiteway is reached by a most pictures(ue road, ascendin# with
many twists and cur es between deli#htful alleys and well wooded
hills $$$
"he #oes on to refer to 'lo ely' iews, 'charmin#' illa#es, and 'cosy'
cotta#es, with a recurrence of the 'pictures(ue'$
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The cookin#, washin# and cleanin# $$$ are done by Eeannie, Cucy
and ellie$ -ost of the meals are taken out of doors, under a tree
by the roadside$ The washin#, too, is done out of doors, for these
three belie e in bein# indoors as little as possible $$$ Time not
occupied in this way is spent on the land $$$ The women do e%actly
the same kind of work as the men, and do not find it too tirin#$
This romantic picture is tempered with a caution$
>f course, there is another side to all this$ )et days, especially wet
washin# days, are ery tryin#$ +ndea ourin# to make old trousers
into new knickerbockers, darnin# impossible socks, runnin# out of
some necessary item of food $$$ but worst of all $$$ findin# in
oursel es une%pected weak places, bein# impatient of otherpeople's failin#s, for#ettin# our own $$$ But we must ha e patience
and learn$