European Utopias of the XVII Century: In Search of Models of Social Order

The article analyzes the European utopias of the XVII century on the basis of the actor-network approach. The assemblage point of a utopian society is directly the idea of a social order, which is formed on the basis of scientific knowledge embodying instrumental reason. The study of man, societies, and natural phenomena allows the authors of utopias to offer a more rationally organized, ordered, from their point of view, social world that provides satisfaction of the needs of both the individual and society. The social order based on scientific knowledge is conceived by the authors of utopias as a marker of civilization, thanks to which the utopian society as another (‘alien’) social order is endowed with positive characteristics. The authors believe that the construction of the utopian ‘social’ takes place within a closed network in space and time, which prevents the threat of the collapse of order, isolating cultural influence from the outside, as well as guaranteeing the immutability/stability of a given algorithm of social relations in a chronological perspective. The authors identify the functioning in utopias of the regime of everyday life reproduction, excluding mobilization, orienting the inhabitants of utopia on the values of everyday work, moderation and harmony. The article shows that the construction of a society based on scientific knowledge determines the features of social stratification in the form of a meritocracy of knowledge legitimized by natural religion. The authors believe that the ‘assembly of the social’ based on egalitarian principles extends mainly to economic processes, while the public sphere is designated in the form of an aristocracy of intellectual labor. The expert community carries out total regulation of the activities of archaic/primitive by nature social institutions. The authors think of the collected models of utopian society as universal, potentially suitable for all communities experiencing problems with building a social order.