Ecotopia

Ecotopia was written in the mid-1970’s, well before the advent of many of the technologies, especially the internet and smartphones, that most modern Americans now use and rely on every day. Using passages from the novel, explore how you think Ecotopian society would react to and/or adopt these technologies (or others) into their lives. How might their usage of such technology compare and contrast to our own?

Ecotopia consists of many articles written by the protagonist, William Weston, exploring Callenbach’s imagined Ecotopian society. Choose one article of particular interest to you and, in an essay, discuss the relative merits and/or drawbacks of adopting a similar practice into your own life. What would be most beneficial and detrimental about it? Can something like this be accomplished on a small scale, outside of a society like Ecotopia? Be sure to use passages from your chosen chapter (as well as elsewhere, if necessary) to support your claims.

Throughout the novel, Callenbach includes sections consisting of Weston’s journal entries, originally meant for private consumption only, as well as his articles, meant for public consumption. Using several examples from each, discuss how the novel handles the theme of private versus public personae.