How were the ideas of utopian socialism spread in the French society, and what was their actual influence just before 1848 ? In order to avoid impressionistic and subjective explanations, twho sources have been analysed : subscriptions to Cabet’s Le Populaire, at departmental and local levels ; subscriptions to the phalansterian pension (summer 1846). A geography of utopia cand therefore be sketched, with place ignoring it and spheres of influence. With a few exceptions (Seine, for instance), the fortresses of icarian communism and those of fourierism are not the same. The latter especially seduced the middle classes and the intellectuals ; the former spread in the working classes, compagnons and factory workers.
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