Edward Carpenter’s Homogenic Utopia

Abstract

This chapter examines Edward Carpenter's utopian vision, and specifically his belief that the path to utopia would be blazed by what he called Uranians. Carpenter coined the term “Uranian,” or “Urning,” to describe the man-loving men and women-loving women who he believed were the advance guard in the march to utopia. According to Carpenter, Uranians constituted an “intermediate sex,” combining what he saw as the best of both genders: women's tender, loving nature and men's energy and capacity for action. Carpenter wrote a series of essays and books about intermediate sex and what he refers to as “homogenic love.” One of his major works was the 1883 poem “Towards Democracy.” This chapter first provides a background on Carpenter before discussing his utopianism, his religious and spiritual beliefs, his visit to Walt Whitman in America, and his views on homosexuality and socialism.