“Everyday Utopia” by Kristen Ghodsee
Details
This time around we’re reading “Everyday Utopia” by Kristen Ghodsee – we are the mostly utopian book club, after all. The book’s subtitle varies by region and either reads “What 2000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life” (US) or “In Praise of Radical Alternatives to the Traditional Family Home” (UK). Rest assured though, it’s the same book!
Short bio for the author:
> Kristen R. Ghodsee is an award-winning author and ethnographer. She is professor of Russian and East European Studies and a member of the Graduate Group in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of 12 books, among them “Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence” and her work has been translated into over twenty-five languages. She loves popcorn, manual typewriters, and Bassett hounds.
About Everyday Utopia:
> A dazzling tour through 2,000 years of audacious utopian thinking and experiments, exploring better ways to arrange our daily lives, plus a globetrotting jaunt to the communities already putting these seemingly fanciful visions into practice today: from the Danish cohousing communities that share chores and deepen neighborly bonds to matriarchal Colombian ecovillages where residents grow all their own food; and from Connecticut, where new laws make it easier for extra “alloparents” to help raise children not their own, to China, where planned microdistricts ensure everything a busy household might need is nearby. “Everyday Utopia” offers a radically hopeful vision for how to build more contented and connected societies, alongside a practical guide to what we all can do in the meantime to live the good life each and every day.
You can find more information and reviews on the GoodReads page. Curious? Then order a copy at your local book shop or online:
- [The book on Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/p/books/everyday-utopia-what-2-000-years-of-wild-experiments-can-teach-us-about-the-good-life/18860196?ean=9781982190224)
- The book on Amazon
Still undecided or need a refresher after reading the book? Kristen was recently interviewed on the Upstream Podcast and the episode is definitely worth a listen.
We usually discuss in English and/or German, depending on which languages are present, but most likely the conversation will be in English. You definitely don’t need a literature degree to participate! It’s important to us to listen to each other, to treat everyone with respect and to create a safe setting.
The discussion takes place virtually in Zoom and the meeting link will be added to this event on the day it happens. Just check back here half an hour before the meetup starts!
We usually discuss for 1.5-2 hours. It doesn’t matter if you have actually finished the book – everyone is welcome, as long as they have read at least a few pages and bring their impression.