Utopia and dystopia in confrontation troughout the history

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UTOPIA AND DYSTOPIA IN CONFRONTATION TROUGHOUT THE
HISTORY
Fernando Alcoforado*
Utopia and dystopia are two concepts that encourage discussion about the future. Utopia
can be understood as the idea of an ideal, imaginary, perfect, and therefore unreachable
society. The word utopia was created from the Greek terms "u" (prefix employed with
negative connotation) and "topos" (place), meaning "no place" or "place that does not
exist". The term appeared for the first time in the book “Utopia” of the English writer
Thomas More, around 1516. In his work, More criticizes the real society in which he
lives and proposes an island that he idealized where society would abolish private
property, intolerance religious and everyone would live happily in a fair and egalitarian
environment. Dystopia is generally characterized as a place where one lives under
conditions of extreme oppression, despair or deprivation. The word dystopia or anti-
utopia is the antithesis of utopia, presenting a negative view of the future, usually
characterized by totalitarianism, authoritarianism and oppressive control of society.
In dystopia, passing or going to a better world is not possible. On the contrary, the
negative characteristics of reality are reinforced. By reinforcing the negative
characteristics of the world, dystopian literary works are critical or satirical, serving as a
warning to humanity, starting with a pessimistic discourse. In works of fiction, the
authors portray the future in a negative way with the catastrophic evolution of society
that is opposed to the utopian. A rather famous example of dystopia is Aldous Huxley's
“Brave New World” (1932). This book tells a hypothetical future where individuals are
biologically preconditioned and live in a society organized by caste. Another dystopic
classic is "1984," by British author George Orwell. Published in 1949, the work portrays
the daily life of a totalitarian and repressive political regime.
1. Utopia and dystopia in the history of mankind
The history of humanity is full of examples of utopias and dystopias. Excellent
examples of utopia concern the Enlightenment, Marxism and Modernity. With the
Enlightenment, it was expected that society to evolve into tolerance, humanism and
respect for nature, and would affirm the right to freedom and equality between men. It
should be noted that the purpose of the Enlightenment was to correct the inequalities of
society and guarantee the natural rights of the individual, such as freedom and free
possession of goods. Enlightenment humanism of the eighteenth century already
proposed that human beings and their dignity should be the center and fundamental
value of all sciences, thus imposing also that it was the maximum concern of any legal
order, of any legal system.
The Enlightenment provided the motto of the French Revolution (Freedom, Equality
and Fraternity) and fecundated it inasmuch as his followers opposed injustices, religious
intolerance and the privileges of absolutism. However, since the French Revolution
until the present moment, the political promises of the Enlightenment have been
abandoned throughout the world with the adoption of inhuman practices increasingly
sophisticated by governments and imperialists by the great capitalist powers, the
unleashing of 3 world wars (World War I, World War II and the Cold War), the advent
of fascism and Nazism, military intervention and coup d'état in various countries around

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the world, as well as the escalation of neofascism in the contemporary era in the United
States, in Europe and also in Brazil.
The political theses of the Enlightenment failed since the English Revolution (1640), the
American Revolution (1776) and the French Revolution (1789). This failure paved the
way for the advent of Marxist ideology in the nineteenth century throughout the world,
which proposed to take a step forward in relation to the Enlightenment, seeking the end
of the exploitation of man by man with the reduction of economic inequalities between
social classes and, in the future, its complete abolition. The facts of history demonstrate
that the Enlightenment theses that guided the bourgeois revolutions in the eighteenth
century and the Marxist theses on which the socialist revolutions of the twentieth
century were held failed to fulfill their historical promises to conquer human happiness.
As an example of the failure of the Enlightenment and its promises, one can consider
the failure of liberal capitalism not only in the political-institutional field, but also in the
field of the economy which, driven by the free market, was responsible for the
occurrence of two great economic depressions in the world capitalist system in 1873
and 1929, the escalation of colonialism and imperialism in all quarters of the Earth and
the advent of two world wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945), as well as neo-liberal
capitalism, which in the era of economic and financial globalization was responsible for
the global crisis of 2008 and gave birth to modern totalitarianism that, encompassing the
entire planet, imposes the neoliberal ideology that occupies all space and all sectors of
life at the same time and represses in any way the will to transform man and the world.
As an example of the failure of Marxism and its promises, one can consider the failure
to build socialism in the Soviet Union and in the countries of Eastern Europe, China,
Cuba, etc. which demonstrate that the old socialist project is no longer feasible and a
new project of socialist society will have to be worked out. It should be stressed that the
utopia based on the old socialist project as it was constructed in the Soviet Union and in
other countries became its opposite, dystopia, state capitalism, with political power
exercised despotically and corruptly by a new type of bourgeoisie (state bourgeoisie or
nomenclature). The proletariat on behalf of which the socialist revolution was carried
out did not exercise power and the population did not participate in the decisions of
governments. Real socialism has come to an end and there has been no popular reaction
to fight in its defense and to maintain it which demonstrates the immense frustration of
the people by not meeting their expectations.
2. The Advances of Utopia in Scandinavia and Dystopia in Brazil
In a world in which dystopia is dominant in confrontation with utopia, the model of
society adopted in Scandinavia seems to be an exception. In this region of the planet, it
seems that utopia overlaps with dystopia. The Nordic or Scandinavian model of social
democracy could best be described as a kind of middle ground between capitalism and
socialism. It is neither wholly capitalist nor wholly socialist, being the attempt to fuse
the most desirable elements of both into a "hybrid" system. The success of this model
was due to the combination of a broad welfare state with rigid mechanisms of regulation
of market forces, capable of putting the economy in a dynamic trajectory, at the same
time that it reaches the best indicators of well-being among the countries of the world.

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It is not by chance that the Scandinavian countries are the ones with the highest rates of
economic and social progress and are leaders in HDI (Human Development Index) in
the world. Unlike liberalism, real socialism and neoliberalism, in the Scandinavian
countries despite their differences, they all share some common traits: a universalist
welfare state that is geared towards improving individual autonomy, promoting social
mobility and ensuring the universal provision of basic human rights and the stabilization
of the economy. They are also distinguished by their emphasis on labor force
participation, promoting gender equality, reducing social inequality, extensive levels of
benefits to the population, and great magnitude of wealth redistribution.
In Brazil, dystopia overcame attempts to construct utopia throughout its history, that is,
to build a society that contributes to the happiness of the Brazilian population. The
revolutionary nativism, under the influence of the ideals of liberalism and the great
purposes of revolutions of the eighteenth century gave way in Brazil the logic of to
change preserving the privileges that prevails today, while D. Pedro I, Crown Prince of
the Royal House Portuguese, took the initiative and not the Brazilian people to execute
the political act that culminated with the Independence. The Independence of Brazil was
therefore a "revolution without revolution" because there were no changes in the
economic base and in the political and legal superstructures of the nation. The State that
is born of the Independence of Brazil maintains the execrable latifundia and intensifies
the not less execrable slavery making of this the support of the restoration that realizes
as to the economic structures inherited of the Colony. Brazil was the last country in the
world to end slavery in the nineteenth century, agrarian reform is still to be achieved
because the ill-fated agrarian structure based on latifundia continues to exist in Brazil,
modernized nowadays with agribusiness, and the industrialization process was
introduced late in Brazil, 200 years after the Industrial Revolution in England. This
explains the economic backwardness of Brazil in relation to the more developed
countries.
The dystopia won the utopia of building a society in Brazil that correspond to the
interests of the vast majority of the population with the attempted coup d´État that led to
President Getulio Vargas suicide in 1954, the 1964 coup d´État that overthrew the
government João Goulart and deployed a civilian dictatorship and military 21 years and
with the adoption of neoliberal economic model from 1990 to the present time which
contributed to the increase in financial and technological dependence of Brazil from the
outside, the de-industrialization of the country, the denationalization of the Brazilian
economy and, as from 2014, for the insolvency of the federal, state and municipal
governments, the general bankruptcy of about half of the small, medium and large
companies of the Country and the underutilization of the labor force in more than 27
millions of workers as a result of the overwhelming current economic recession that
undermines Brazil's economic future and the social conditions of the great majority of
the Brazilian population.
The country's economic debacle after 2014 and the systemic corruption of the PT
(Workers Party) governments revealed through the processes of the “Mensalão” and
“Lava Jato” Operation contributed decisively to the advent of a serious dystopia in
Brazil that meant the victory of Jair Bolsonaro in the last presidential elections in the
face of its clearly fascist position whose discourse is based on the explicit cult of order,
state violence, authoritarian government practices, social disregard for vulnerable and

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fragile groups, and exacerbated anti-communism. Political conflicts in Brazil tend to
grow during the Bolsonaro administration.
In the neoliberal era in which we live, there is no space for the advancement of social
rights in Brazil. On the contrary, dystopia advances with the elimination of such rights
and the deconstruction and denial of reforms already conquered by the subaltern classes.
The so-called "reforms" of social security, labor, privatization of public enterprises, etc.
- "reforms" that are currently present in the political agenda of the future president of
the Republic - are aimed at the pure and simple restoration of the conditions of a
"savage" capitalism, in which the laws of the market must be vigorously enforced.
Dystopia therefore overlaps with the utopia of building a society that contributes to the
collective happiness of the Brazilian nation.
3. Modernity and dystopia
Modernity was born with the 1st Industrial Revolution in England. Since the 1st
Industrial Revolution, science and technology have acquired a fundamental importance
for human progress, through continuous technological innovations. With Modernity,
one sought to use the accumulation of knowledge generated in search of human
emancipation and the enrichment of daily life. Modernity is identified with the belief in
the progress and ideals of the Enlightenment. With Modernity it was hoped that society
would attain the utopia of uninterrupted progress for the benefit of humanity through the
development of science and technology. Like the Enlightenment and Marxism,
Modernity failed to fulfill its promises.
The evolution of modernity was marked by events that negatively marked society from
the twentieth century. Chief among them was undoubtedly the catastrophes of the 1st
and 2nd World War. In fact, science and technology have contributed to the barbarism
of two world wars with the invention of powerful and destructive war weapons. Science
and technology have come to be used on an unprecedented scale for both good and evil.
Add to all this the fact that science has lost its value as a result of the disillusionment
with the benefits that technology has brought to mankind. All of this scientific and
technological development culminated in the current era with a global ecological crisis
that could result in a catastrophic global climate change that could threaten the survival
of mankind. In this sense one can doubt the real benefits brought by scientific and
technological progress with the advent of Modernity.
Everything that has just been described shows the prevalence of dystopia over utopia in
the history of humanity. An example of dystopia is what is presented in The End of
Progress - How modern economics has failed us, published by John Wiley & Sons in
2011. Graeme Maxton states that humanity is moving backward. Humanity is
destroying more than building. In each year, the world economy grows approximately
US$ 1.5 trillion. But every year, humanity devastates the planet at a cost of US$ 4.5
trillion. Humanity is moving in the opposite direction, generating losses greater than the
wealth it creates. Maxton states that mankind experienced rapid economic growth but
also created an unstable world. According to Maxton, in many countries, for the first
time in centuries, we are faced with declining of life expectancy and the prospect of
declining food production and water supply, as well as the depletion of natural
resources such as oil.

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Another example of dystopia is presented in John Casti's book O Colapso de Tudo - Os
Eventos Extremos que Podem Destruir a Civilização a Qualquer Momento (The
Collapse of Everything - The Extreme Events that Can Destroy Civilization Any Time)
(Rio: Editora Intrínseca Ltda., 2012). In his book, John Casti states that our society is
becoming so intertwined and complex that collapse is almost inevitable. Casti traced the
scenarios of a widespread and enduring interruption of the internet, the depletion of the
global food supply system, a continental electromagnetic pulse that destroys all
electronic devices, the collapse of globalization, the destruction of the Earth by the
creation of exotic particles, the destabilization of the nuclear situation, the end of the
global oil supply, a global pandemic, the lack of electricity and drinking water,
intelligent robots that surpass humanity and global deflation and the collapse of global
financial markets.
Edgar Morin also presents an example of dystopia in his book Vers l'abîme? (Towards
the abyss?) (Paris: Cahiers de L'Herne, 2007). Edgar Morin considers the inevitability
of the disaster that threatens humanity in which, he says, the improbable becomes
possible. The title of the book in the form of interrogation deals with the certainty of the
abyss. "Will humanity avoid this disaster or start again from disaster? Does the global
crisis that opens and expand lead to disaster or overcoming?" Edgar Morin proves that
the world crisis has worsened and that dominant political thinking is incapable of
formulating a policy of civilization and humanity. The world is at the beginning of
chaos, and the only perspective is a metamorphosis, with the emergence of forces of
transformation and regeneration.
Morin states that Modernity created three myths: of to control the Universe, of the
progress and of the conquest of happiness. The enormous development of science,
technology, economics, capitalism, has unprecedentedly increased the invention, but
also the capacity for destruction. . Reason inherited from the Enlightenment imposed
the idea of a fully intelligible Universe. Scientific and technical progress allowed human
emancipation as always, but collective death has also become possible as never before.
Technological, scientific, medical, social progress is manifested in the form of
biosphere destruction, cultural destruction, creation of new inequalities and new
easements. Morin defends the thesis that world society is not civilized, on the contrary,
it is barbaric. Morin states that we are facing the sinking of the Enlightenment and its
promises.
4. Conclusion
What has just been described makes evident the imperative necessity of building a new
utopia and its feasibility that contributes to the conquest of human happiness in all
quarters of the Earth. One fact is indisputable: without the overthrow of modern
totalitarianism on a national and global scale, represented by the dystopia imposed by
neoliberal globalization, the problems affecting the human being will not be overcome
in each country in isolation. Faced with the failure of the Enlightenment, Marxism and
Modernity in the construction of human happiness, it is an immense challenge for
contemporary thinkers to establish new paradigms and new values of rational behavior
to be formulated for society in the present era. Contemporary thinkers need to mobilize
in the reinvention of a new Enlightenment project of society as did eighteenth-century
thinkers in order to construct the utopia of a new world that will bring to an end the
ordeal of humanity.

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* Fernando Alcoforado, 78, holder of the CONFEA / CREA System Medal of Merit, member of the Bahia
Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the
University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business
planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 14 books addressing issues
such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The
Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world and The Great Scientific,
Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World.

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