The Dispossessed

The Dispossessed is one of those science fiction classics all should read. It tells the story of Shevek, a physicist from an anarchist society on Anarres struggling to complete a General Temporal Theory while also adjusting to the dangers of archism on the homeworld of Urras and the bureaucratization of life on Anarres. Anarres is indeed an "ambiguous utopia" based on anarchist values (and, at times, referring indirectly to Prouhon and Kropotkin). For nearly two centuries, the followers of Odo have managed to survive on a bleak landscape through solidarity and mutual aid. However, there are forces within their society which are creeping towards statism and laws (through conventional behavior, customs) that impede the will of individuals. Facing obstacles for his research on Anarres, Shevek attempts to break down more walls by going directly to Urras, and visiting the land of his ancestors in A-Io.

As a novel exploring the contrast between an anarchist society and a wealthy, centralized state with a capitalist economy (A-Io is likely inspired by the US, Thu by the USSR), this novel requires the reader to think seriously beyond any simplistic utopia. Solidarity and mutual aid as social principles require constant work, a "permanent revolution" to limit the reappearance of state-like apparatuses or the tyranny of the majority. Due to widespread inequality, gross sexism, and war on Urras, it is clearly a flawed place and will not be the solution to the estrangement Shevek experiences at home. However, Anarres also suffers through a traumatic drought, bureaucratic abuse and power struggles, and a harsh material existence that suggests anarchist utopias can only be achieved and maintained through an aforementioned "permanent revolution." Shevek's recollections of solidarity, communication and mutual aid on Urras, however, lead to him joining with socialists and syndicalists in an insurrection against the government of A-Io, demonstrating the appeal of Odonian principles to other peoples beyond Anarres. 

Perhaps the appeal of anarchism and stateless principles to others and the need for breaking down all walls explains why Shevek's research helps lay the foundation for the ansible. Technology which can allow for communication among all the known worlds will ensure ideas and technological advances can be shared equally, and therefore allow for information and other forms of change to prevent Anarres from continuing down its isolationist path, living in the past. Shevek's theory, and mindset, requires a synthesis of the past, present, and future, and an anarchist settlement cutting itself off from the rest of humanity will not last. One can find this sentiment in the novel to be quite moving, as its suggests the degree to which utopian thinking is itself a problem since there are no utopias. Life on Anarres may be egalitarian and, for the most part, no one suffers from want. But, pain, suffering, conflict, and the need to learn are an enduring presence in human existence.