We examine nineteenth century rhetorics of modernism and progress, focusing on utopian literature and community building as a social force in European and United States societies. Twin social conflicts form the backdrop of our analysis: (1) the wrenching transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy and (2) the growing sense that excessive individuality must be tempered through science and planning. Toward that end, we discover Edward Bellamy's ideological response to the teeming cities and idiosyncratic visions of the good life that marked his age.