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Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston
AuthorErnest Callenbach
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Utopian novel
PublisherErnest Callenbach (first self-published as Banyan Tree Books) & Bantam Books (1977)
Publication date1975
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages181 pp
ISBNNA
Followed byEcotopia Emerging

Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston is the title of a seminal book by Ernest Callenbach, published in 1975. Ernest Callenbach (born April 3, 1929) is an American Writer. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The utopia and its offshoot the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Ernest Callenbach (born April 3, 1929) is an American Writer. Bantam Books is a major US publishing house owned by Random House and is part of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Ecotopia Emerging (EE by Ernest Callenbach is a fictionalized history of the events leading up to the secession of Northern California Ernest Callenbach (born April 3, 1929) is an American Writer. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The society described in the book is one of the first ecological utopias and was influential on the counterculture, and the green movement in the 1970s and after. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or Green politics is a Political ideology which places a high importance on ecological and environmental goals and on achieving these goals through broad-based This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970.

The impressive, environmentally benign energy, homebuilding, and transportation technology Callenbach described in Ecotopia was based on research findings published in such journals as Scientific American. Scientific American is a Popular science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly since August 28, 1845, making it The author's story was woven using the fiber of technologies, lifestyles, folkways, and attitudes that were being reflected (from real-life experience) in the pages of, say, the Whole Earth Catalog and its successor CoEvolution Quarterly, as well as being depicted in newspaper stories, novels and films. The term lifestyle was originally coined by Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler in 1929 Folkways are the patterns of conventional Behavior in a Society, norms that apply to everyday matters The Whole Earth Catalog was an American Counterculture catalog that granted "Access to Tools" published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and CoEvolution Quarterly (1974 - 1985 is a descendant of Stewart Brand 's Whole Earth Catalog. Callenbach's main ideas for Ecotopian values and practices were based on actual experimentation taking place in the American West. The Western United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American West or simply the West &mdashtraditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost As an example, Callenbach's fictional Crick School was based upon Pinel School, an alternative school outside Martinez, California once attended by his son. Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other Martinez ( "mar-TEE-niss" or "mar-TEE-nezz") is the County seat of Contra Costa County California, United States

The author’s Ecotopian concept does not reject high technology, but rather members of his fictional society show a conscious selectivity about technology, so that human health and sanity might be preserved, as also social and ecological health might be. High tech is Technology that is at the cutting edge —the most advanced technology currently available For instance, Callenbach’s story anticipated the development and liberal usage of videoconferencing. A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) is a set of interactive Telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact

In the 1970s when Ecotopia was written and published “many prominent counterculture and new left thinkers decried the consumption and overabundance that they perceived as characteristic of post-World War Two America[1]”. The citizens of Ecotopia were of the same mind, they were looking for a balance between themselves and nature. They were “literally sick of bad air, chemicalized food, and lunatic advertising. They turned to politics because it was finally the only route to self-preservation[2]. ” In the mid-20th century as “firms grew in size and complexity citizens needed to know the market would still serve the interests for those it claimed to exist[3]”. Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a shot at the fact that many people did not feel the market and the government was serving them in the way they wanted them to. This book was “a protest against consumerism and materialism, among other aspects of American life[4]”.

The term "ecotopian fiction", as a sub-genre of science fiction and utopian fiction, refers to this book. Ecotopian fiction is a subgenre of Utopian fiction where the author posits either a Utopian or Dystopian world revolving around environmental The utopia and its offshoot the dystopia, are genres of literature that explore social and political structures

Contents

Plot summary

The book is set in a 1999 future (25 years in the future, seen from 1974) and consists of the diary entries and reports of William Weston, a reporter who is the first American proper to investigate Ecotopia, a newly formed country that broke from the USA in 1980. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) This country consists more or less of the territory of the former states of Oregon and Washington, plus Northern California. Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Northern California is the northern portion of the US state of California. The book is a combination of narrative from his diary and reports he sent to his publication, the Times-Post.

Together with Weston, who at the beginning is curious about, but not particularly sympathetic to, Ecotopia, we learn about the ecotopian train system, life style, war sports, politics (the president is a woman, Vera Allwen), gender relations, sexual freedom, energy production, agriculture, education, and so on. Ecotopian citizens are characterized as free-thinking, creative and energetic, but also socially responsible and often inclined to work in team configurations. In the end, Weston becomes an Ecotopian himself.

The importance of this book is not so much to be found in its literary form, as in the lively imagination of an alternative and ecologically sound lifestyle on a greater scale, presented more or less realistically. It expressed on paper the dream of an alternative future held by many in the movements of the 1970s and later. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Even the names of the two characters most reflective of their respective viewpoints - "Will West(on)", the representative for materialist American culture and "Vera Allwen" (= "Truth for All Time"), the President and spokeswoman for Ecotopia - suggest the degree to which the author intended the book as a reflection of American ecological and cultural deficiencies.

Worth mentioning is Callenbach's speculation on the roles of TV in his envisioned society. In some ways anticipating C-SPAN, which would first be broadcast in 1979, and reality television, which would not emerge into recognition for two decades, the story mentions that the daily life of the legislature and some of that of the judicial courts is televised in Ecotopia, and even highly technical debates met a need and desire among viewers. C-SPAN (officially the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is an American Cable television network dedicated to airing non-stop coverage Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Reality television is a genre of Television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations documents actual events and usually features ordinary In a way, the book also anticipated proposed "polar cities" for survivors of global warming in far distant future.

Another concept worth noting from the novel is "print on demand" publishing. Print on demand (POD, sometimes called publish on demand, is a Printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book (or other document are not In the novel, customers could choose a book from a jukebox-like device, and then the book would be printed and bound by the machine. jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device usually a Coin -operated machine that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media Today, there are services like Lulu.com that print, bind and ship books for customers who order on-line.

In contrast to much of the Green movement in contemporary America with its preference for regulation, however, Callenbach's Ecotopia has relatively laissez-faire economic tendencies.

In 1981, Callenbach published Ecotopia Emerging, a multi-strand "prequel" suggesting how the sustainable nation of Ecotopia could have come into existence. Ecotopia Emerging (EE by Ernest Callenbach is a fictionalized history of the events leading up to the secession of Northern California

In 1990, Audio Renaissance released a partial dramatization of Ecotopia on audiocassettes in the form of recordings of a radio network broadcast (the Allied News Network replacing the Times-Post). The tape-recorded diaries of William Weston were read by the book's author, Ernest Callenbach. Weston's reports were read by veteran news reporter Edwin Newman. Edwin Newman (born January 25, 1919, New York City) is a Journalist and Writer.

Quotes

“. . . if you reflect on our change from thoughtless trash-tossing to virtually universal recycling, or from the past in which smokers didn't hesitate to blow smoke in anybody's face to our present restrictions on smoking in public places, it's clear that shared ideas about acceptable or desirable behavior can change markedly. Such changes occurred without anybody getting arrested in the dark of night. Further changes will come. . . ”

References to Ecotopia

In his 1981 book Nine Nations of North America, author Joel Garreau named one of his nations Ecotopia after Callenbach's book. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The Nine Nations of North America is a book written in 1981 by Joel Garreau. Joel Garreau (born 1948 is an American Journalist and Author. Garreau's Ecotopia consists of Northern California, Western Oregon, Western Washington, coastal British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska and is one of the nine economic-cultural nations into which Garreau believed North America should be divided to correctly understand the true regional dynamics of the continent. Northern California is the northern portion of the US state of California. Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to apply to the portion of the state of Oregon that is west of the Western Washington is a Region of the United States defined as that part of Washington British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered This Ecotopia, like Callenbach's, is characterized culturally by its environmental sensibilities and focus on 'quality of life', and economically by its focus on renewable resources such as hydropower and forestry. Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the Force or Energy of moving water which may Forestry is the Art and Science of managing forests tree Plantations and related Natural resources.

Outside of the written word, Callenbach's "Ecotopia" novels have also inspired real change in its influence on the Cascadia movement. Cascadia (commonly called the Republic of Cascadia as a full name is a proposed name for an independent sovereign state advocated by a small grassroots environmental movement

There is a British "ethical online supermarket for everyday products" named Ecotopia.co.uk.

See also

Further reading

External links

Dictionary

ecotopia

-noun

  1. Any ecologically ideal place or situation
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