Shaping Societies: Social Engineering in Early Modern Times

Speakers): Dr. Manuel Braun (University of Stuttgart)

The mode in which modern societies operate, is the reform mode. In this talk I argue that the concept of reform arose for the first time in the 16th century. To support this argument I shall examine two different texts from that period, namely one of a literary nature, the “Utopia” by Thomas More, and one of a pragmatic nature, De subventione pauperum by Juan Luis Vives. Both texts seek to reorganize society and its institutions in a rational way. The radical nature of these proposals would have been as inconceivable in the Middle Ages as their guiding principle, namely citizen’s equality. The downside of this concept of equality is, and this is my second claim, the exclusion, the suppression, even the extinction of marginalized groups who threaten to disturb the intended homogeneity. In this sense, the 16th century marks the birth of modern social engineering in all its dialectics.