First of all reading Thomas Moore’s Utopia informs a lot of how I understand what an earlier view of utopia in history sounds like rather than a more modern one. I am able to see Oneida as a further version of what Moore imagined. Moreover, the social contract helps with me understand the trade off between individualism and community within society.
Going to Twin Oaks and Jackson Ward gave me a much better idea of planned utopia. This informed me in my sources because I could understood how ideas translated into lived community. In understanding both these areas Oneida seems to be much more isolated than them. Twin Oaks has many businesses ad interacts a fair deal with the outside world. Moreover, Jackson Ward was part of the cityscape. Oneida on the other hand seems more on its own and so having this three way comparison is useful.
When reading China Mievielle you are able to understand just how complicated and problematic imagined worlds can be or the ideas or inspiration to change a world. Attending his lectures and hearing him speak made me understand that process of perfection is a useless endeavour and so one should look at any form of Utopia in its own weird way not seeing it as varying degrees of right and wrong.
All in all everything I have learnt about utopia, past and present has brought me to various analogies within my paper. The greatest idea that has stuck with me is how all of what we have read and studied is in some sense a form of community building.