Starting Your Own Country: From Utopia to the Network State

Catalog description

Ever thought about starting your own country? You're not alone. The past is filled with examples of new worlds, both imagined and attempted: from More's Utopia to Gregor MacGregor's Poyais to the Bates family's Sealand. Our present too is replete with various schemes to create kinds of state-like communities: from autonomous territories in resistance to libertarian seasteads and cloud-based Network states designed around blockchain and cryptocurrencies. This class covers some 500 years of history and literature to examine the political and social foundations out of which such efforts arose; their philosophical underpinnings; their life-spans in terms of both real life existence and long-term influence; and changing technological and social possibilities for new countries now. (HIST-HTR)