--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was really interested in 20th century…" description: "\"I was really interested in 20th century communalism and alternative communities, the boom of communes in the 60s and 70s. That led me back to the 19th ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/christine-jennings-20527_19th-century_i-was-really-interested-in-20th-century_876714.jpg" --- # I was really interested in 20th century communalism and… ![“I was really interested in 20th century communalism and alternative communities, the boom of communes in the 60s and 70s. That led me back to the 19th century. I was shocked to find what I would describe as far more utopian ideas in the 19th century than in the 20th century. Not only were the…” quote by Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/christine-jennings-20527_19th-century_i-was-really-interested-in-20th-century_876714.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/christine-jennings-20527_19th-century_i-was-really-interested-in-20th-century_876714.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/christine-jennings-20527_19th-century_i-was-really-interested-in-20th-century_876714.jpg) > “I was really interested in 20th century communalism and alternative communities, the boom of communes in the 60s and 70s. That led me back to the 19th century. I was shocked to find what I would describe as far more utopian ideas in the 19th century than in the 20th century. Not only were the ideas so extreme, but surprising people were adopting them.” [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author notes that 19th‑century utopian ideas were more extreme and widespread than those of the 20th‑century communes, surprising them. **In simple terms:** 19th‑century utopias were more radical than later communes. Key Takeaway Explore historical utopian movements for insight. Themes history utopianism social movements comparative analysis Mood reflective curious Type analytical historical When to use this quote - academic research - community planning - activist education - policy design Key Concepts Utopian theory historical continuity ideological diffusion Questions to Reflect On - How did 19th‑century utopias influence modern communal experiments? - What lessons can contemporary movements draw from past extremes? A Different Perspective Historical context may differ, limiting direct relevance today. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communalism/) [Communes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communes/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Utopian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopian/) ## Related quotes > [There are Harvard grads, free thinkers, feminists, abolitionists, well-to-do people who want to go write poetry and live on a farm and cook and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/there-are-harvard-grads-free-thinkers-feminists-abolitionists-well-to/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [Every technological advance we've made in the 21st century and throughout the 20th has come from the United States of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-gramm/every-technological-advance-we-ve-made-in-the-21st-century-and/) [Phil Gramm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-gramm/) > [We will pay a heavy price if we insist on navigating the 21st century with a 20th century mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-steyer/we-will-pay-a-heavy-price-if-we-insist-on-navigating-the-21st-century/) [Tom Steyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-steyer/) > [The task of organized religion is not to prove that God was in the 1st century, but that he is in the 20th.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-h-miller/the-task-of-organized-religion-is-not-to-prove-that-god-was-in-the/) S H Miller > [Even after Independence, we have had to face the poison of casteism and communalism. How long these evils will continue? Whom does it benefit?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/even-after-independence-we-have-had-to-face-the-poison-of-casteism/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Dignity of labour has to be our national duty; it has to be a part of our nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/dignity-of-labour-has-to-be-our-national-duty-it-has-to-be-a-part-of/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Congress Mukt Bharat BJP ka naara nahi hai, jan jan ka sankalp hai. Be it dynasty politics, nepotism, corruption, communalism, divisions in society or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/congress-mukt-bharat-bjp-ka-naara-nahi-hai-jan-jan-ka-sankalp-hai-be/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [When people unfortunately use religion to facilitate their envy, arrogance and hate, communalism surfaces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/when-people-unfortunately-use-religion-to-facilitate-their-envy/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [I think that communalism is the cancer of our society, and if we have to protect the humanity and the unity and integrity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mamata-banerjee/i-think-that-communalism-is-the-cancer-of-our-society-and-if-we-have/) [Mamata Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mamata-banerjee/) > [I was not with BJP's communalism agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mamata-banerjee/i-was-not-with-bjp-s-communalism-agenda/) [Mamata Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mamata-banerjee/) > [In my case I would emphasize anarcho-communalism, along with the ecological questions, the feminist questions, the anti-nuclear issues that exist, and along with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/in-my-case-i-would-emphasize-anarcho-communalism-along-with-the/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [My anarchism is frankly anarcho-communalism, and it's eco-anarchism as well. And it's not oriented toward the proletariat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/my-anarchism-is-frankly-anarcho-communalism-and-it-s-eco-anarchism-as/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [You shall have to be able to oppose communalism, only then can you say you are secular. Many political parties which claim to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pinarayi-vijayan/you-shall-have-to-be-able-to-oppose-communalism-only-then-can-you-say/) [Pinarayi Vijayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pinarayi-vijayan/) > [India is developing because of 125 crore strong Team India. We have to end the curse of casteism, communalism with the sweetness of development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/india-is-developing-because-of-125-crore-strong-team-india-we-have-to/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism. We need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ratan-tata/i-am-proud-of-my-country-but-we-need-to-unite-to-make-a-unified-india/) [Ratan Tata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ratan-tata/) ## More by Christine Jennings > [Utopian fiction is really boring. I had to read a lot of it, and it's not that much fun. But they're fascinating to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/utopian-fiction-is-really-boring-i-had-to-read-a-lot-of-it-and-it-s/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [The fatal flaw of most utopian visions is that they're fundamentally static, and that's not a comfortable place for humans to live. Fourier was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-fatal-flaw-of-most-utopian-visions-is-that-they-re-fundamentally/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [There are two instances I studied in which a community moved, amazingly, into an preexisting village built by other, earlier communalists. The Rappites were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/there-are-two-instances-i-studied-in-which-a-community-moved/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [The religious and irreligious are agreeing with each other almost all the time. Their rhetoric is the same, and their plans are the same.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-religious-and-irreligious-are-agreeing-with-each-other-almost-all/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [These weren't college kids on acid. They were preachers, and bankers, and farmers, and the salt of American society subscribing to ideas that now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/these-weren-t-college-kids-on-acid-they-were-preachers-and-bankers/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [The thought was, 'We're going to go to California, where the soil is black and ten feet deep, and there are no rocks, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-thought-was-we-re-going-to-go-to-california-where-the-soil-is/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [But if you'd only ever lived in small wooden house in the middle of wilderness, it sounded much better. Especially because it provided intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/but-if-you-d-only-ever-lived-in-small-wooden-house-in-the-middle-of/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [Atheist isn't really the right word because they tended to believe in some sort of Enlightenment, capital 'N' Nature kind of god. But these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/atheist-isn-t-really-the-right-word-because-they-tended-to-believe-in/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [Because the utopian's worldview was framed around moving toward this perfected future, it helped stimulate the private exertions that add up to social progress.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/because-the-utopian-s-worldview-was-framed-around-moving-toward-this/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [The thing that had fueled these utopian communities was a literal belief, and not just a general sense of optimism, that the earth was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-thing-that-had-fueled-these-utopian-communities-was-a-literal/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [ They \[Oneida people\] didn't want to fix problems one at a time. If someone invited them to a feminist convention, their answer would have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/they-oneida-people-didn-t-want-to-fix-problems-one-at-a-time-if/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [Utopians don't say, 'The world's corrupt, women make less money, people of color are oppressed at every turn.' You don't list the problems of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/utopians-don-t-say-the-world-s-corrupt-women-make-less-money-people/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [don't think I should be in the business of making big pronouncements about where we are now, but I would say that dissatisfaction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/don-t-think-i-should-be-in-the-business-of-making-big-pronouncements/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [The secular utopians basically said the exact same thing, they just took the Bible out of the equation. The religious and the secular groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-secular-utopians-basically-said-the-exact-same-thing-they-just/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [One of the things that's amazing about reading the private writing of these folks is that they enthusiastically describe things which we have now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/one-of-the-things-that-s-amazing-about-reading-the-private-writing-of/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) [Explore all 30 Christine Jennings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) ## More 19th century quotes > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/take-any-writer-you-want-in-the-19th-century-they-wrote-with-quill/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [There are real issues that the president Donald Trump and particularly Steve Bannon, his political adviser, are pushing. It's a vision, a rather dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franklin-jeffrey/there-are-real-issues-that-the-president-donald-trump-and/) [James Franklin Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franklin-jeffrey/) > [While every historical era has its unique appeal as a setting for tales of crime and detection, the 19th century is exceptional - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/while-every-historical-era-has-its-unique-appeal-as-a-setting-for/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Adolescence was invented in the 19th century to enable middle-class families to keep their children out of sweatshops. But it has degenerated into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/adolescence-was-invented-in-the-19th-century-to-enable-middle-class/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [An ethic of maternalism was central to the utopianism of 19th century feminists. I don't think that today's women see motherhood as a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/an-ethic-of-maternalism-was-central-to-the-utopianism-of-19th-century/) Clare Wright Browse all 383 19th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was really interested in 20th century communalism and alternative communities, the boom of communes in the 60s and 70s. That led me back to the 19th century. I was shocked to find what I would describe as far more utopian ideas in the 19th century than in the 20th century. 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