Structural Roots of Visions of the Future: World-System Crisis and Stability and the Production of Utopian Literature in the United States, 1883-1975.

This paper examines the linkages among the ideological, political, and economic dimensions of the world-system by looking at changes in the publication of two types of utopian novels in the United States. We argue that positive and negative visions of the future (eutopian and dystopian literature, respectively) can be treated as aspects of the ideological dimension of the world-system. As part of such an interrelated system, the volume of utopias should change in response to periods of crisis and stability in the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of the system. A time-series analysis indicates that both types of utopian literature are affected by changing conditions of the world-system. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the world-system perspective represents a promising approach for the study of ideological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]