In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, a liberal political and economic order that had prevailed for most of the preceding century, and which seemed so triumphantly secure at the end of the Cold War, has been shaken by a rising tide of populism. To those for whom this ‘old order’ had offered prosperity and certainty, such challenges are deeply disturbing. It is tempting also to see them as unprecedented. We shall discover, on the contrary, that ‘we have been there before’.
Nineteenth century Europe witnessed a rise in support for groups and individuals who rejected many aspects of nascent liberal-capitalism. While today’s populists come largely from the right of the political spectrum, these nineteenth-century radicals were predominantly of the left. One cannot ignore Karl Marx, but our main focus will be on some lesser-known thinkers and activists and on exploring their various ideas of how to build a good society. So we shall look at the careers of a broad sample of these ‘Utopians’, and discover that so many of our twenty-first century concerns, such as social, economic and gender equality, animal and environmental protection and preservation of peace, to name but a few, were also part of their agenda. How might nineteenth-century perspectives on the causes of – and possible solutions to - such issues, help to inform contemporary debates?