Engineering the Welfare State : Economic Thought as Context to Boye’s Kallocain and Huxley’s Brave New World
Leth Gammelgaard, Signe LU
(2023)
In Utopian studies
34(3).
p.436-457
- Abstract
- While the political aspects of the interwar dystopias have received much attention, less focus has been given to the specific correlation to the economic thinking and developments of the period, in particular the prominence of economic planning. This article suggests that such a connection is significant by examining a key Swedish novel from the period, Kallocain, in relation to the early economic theory of the Scandinavian welfare state. The article then relates these findings to links between Brave New World and the thinking of John Maynard Keynes. Finally, the kinds of critique articulated in these fictional works are centered around the citizens’ emotional and interior lives in new planned societies, and around their views on bad,... (More)
- While the political aspects of the interwar dystopias have received much attention, less focus has been given to the specific correlation to the economic thinking and developments of the period, in particular the prominence of economic planning. This article suggests that such a connection is significant by examining a key Swedish novel from the period, Kallocain, in relation to the early economic theory of the Scandinavian welfare state. The article then relates these findings to links between Brave New World and the thinking of John Maynard Keynes. Finally, the kinds of critique articulated in these fictional works are centered around the citizens’ emotional and interior lives in new planned societies, and around their views on bad, disloyal, or painful feelings. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/74186960-3e26-49c9-ab4a-ffd75035d382
- author
- Leth Gammelgaard, Signe
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- interwar dystopias, Kallocain, Brave New World, economic criticism, literature and the early welfare state
- in
- Utopian studies
- volume
- 34
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- Penn State University Press
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:85183371495
- scopus:85183371495
- ISSN
- 1045-991X
- DOI
- 10.5325/utopianstudies.34.3.0436
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 74186960-3e26-49c9-ab4a-ffd75035d382
- date added to LUP
- 2024-01-30 11:36:30
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:18:54
@article{74186960-3e26-49c9-ab4a-ffd75035d382,
abstract = {{While the political aspects of the interwar dystopias have received much attention, less focus has been given to the specific correlation to the economic thinking and developments of the period, in particular the prominence of economic planning. This article suggests that such a connection is significant by examining a key Swedish novel from the period, Kallocain, in relation to the early economic theory of the Scandinavian welfare state. The article then relates these findings to links between Brave New World and the thinking of John Maynard Keynes. Finally, the kinds of critique articulated in these fictional works are centered around the citizens’ emotional and interior lives in new planned societies, and around their views on bad, disloyal, or painful feelings.}},
author = {{Leth Gammelgaard, Signe}},
issn = {{1045-991X}},
keywords = {{interwar dystopias; Kallocain; Brave New World; economic criticism; literature and the early welfare state}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{436--457}},
publisher = {{Penn State University Press}},
series = {{Utopian studies}},
title = {{Engineering the Welfare State : Economic Thought as Context to Boye’s <i>Kallocain</i> and Huxley’s <i>Brave New World</i>}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/utopianstudies.34.3.0436}},
doi = {{10.5325/utopianstudies.34.3.0436}},
volume = {{34}},
year = {{2023}},
}