Sinapia: the Political Uselessness of Utopia in Modern Spain

Abstract

From the late 17th century on, a minority of Spanish intellectuals display their concerns and proposals of reform in order to “modernize” their country. They would be known as novatores (innovators), then as representatives of a local Enlightenment. Aware of the political, religious and social limits of their aspirations, this intellectual minority tends to avoid expressing their reflections on the fundamental institutional and ideological pillars of the country, throne and altar. However, when Napoleon tries to impose by force his way of "overcoming" the Ancien Régime, many representatives of that minority fight and debate to offer concrete formulations for the construction of the modern State, whose shock wave will spread outside Spain itself. How to explain such an abrupt transition from a cautious and moderate reformism to a liberal political experimentation, with notions and achievements able to spread outside Spain? Is there any precedent in utopian literature that helps explain such a transformation?