Eǔtopia • (ev-topia) • noun
Definition: Sustainable Good Place
Origin: Greek eu- meaning “good,” “genuine,” and “true;” topos meaning “place”
The Sustainable Culture Lab works to create nourishing and sustainable good places which we’ve come to define as Eǔtopia. We believe that the world needs to cultivate and encourage Eǔtopian spaces, so that we can transcend our present obstacles. This need has become especially important as the world confronts existential challenges, such as the spread of COVID-19. Eǔtopia is a natural progression beyond the false promise of “utopia” and is the antithesis of an ethnocidal society.
In 1516, English theologian and writer Thomas More penned his satirical novel Utopia, and for the next 500 years, Europeans have worked to create impossible utopias. These utopian visions have always been impossible and based on a fantasy because the word utopia literally means “nonexistent good place.”
With the publishing of his book, More invented the word utopia by combining and removing the first vowels of the Greek prefixes “eu” and “ou” and adding the resulting “u” to “topia.” As we know, “eu” means “good,” but most people neglect that “ou” means “does not exist” or “nonexistent.” During the 16th century, Europe had become increasingly obsessed with exploration, colonization, and the transatlantic slave trade, so as Europeans sailed around the world they absurdly aspired to create utopias, or “nonexistent good places” in the New World.
Instead of making good places, they built places governed by ethnocide and now we are tasked with creating good places that are more than merely European satires.
At SCL, we believe that it is much harder for people to create good places when they do not have a word that means “good place” and the philosophy to support it. We believe that Eǔtopia helps address this profound cultural problem. The word and philosophy behind it empowers people to first change their language and perspective, and to then cultivate Eǔtopian actions.
Eǔtopian philosophy, theories, art, and practices need to be developed, which we have done and will do together through upcoming newsletters, events and the many on and offline conversations we hope to have with you, the SCL community.
However, to get started with envisioning Eǔtopia we need to have a quick discourse on the meaning of the word “good.” A great analogy for understanding this would be food.
Good food is not “good” merely because it tastes good. Good food is “good” because it is good for you, and hopefully tastes good too. The food is good for you because it sustains and nourishes you. This type of goodness has an objectivity that can be applied to everyone. Eǔtopian goods prioritize an objective, sustainable, and nourishing goodness.
On the other hand, junk food would not be considered “good” for you regardless of how “good” it tastes. It is proven that a diet of junk food is unhealthy and unsustainable. Its focus is not nourishment and its “good” is subjective. Junk food is not Eǔtopian, and by knowing Eǔtopia it is also easier to recognize the “good” things that are actually bad for you.
For this week, please take some time to think about what Eǔtopia could look like to you, and share your thoughts with us via email, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter using #EverydayEutopia and #TheWord to join the conversation.
Also, look out for our next (virtual!) event announcement which will be sent to you tomorrow!
P.S. Why the accent on the “u”?
In Greek the combined letters “eu” are pronounced as “ev,” but this distinction was lost in translation and now English speakers pronounce the Greek “eu” as “yü.” This unique obstacle made it very difficult for English speakers to see “Eutopia” and say it as “ev-tō-pē-ǝ” instead of as “yü-tō-pē-ǝ,” and this sounded far too close to utopia (yu̇-tō-pē-ǝ).
To distinguish Eutopia from utopia we added the caron above the “u” creating Eǔtopia. The caron allows for “eu” to retain the same meaning, distinguish Eǔtopia from utopia, and indicate the “v” sound that the “u” makes.