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Albert Chavannes (February 23, 1836 – May 3, 1903) was a Swiss-born American author, philosopher, and sociologist, active primarily in the late 19th century. He is best known for his two utopian novels, The Future Commonwealth and In Brighter Climes, which discuss a fictional futuristic society, "Socioland," where the economy is governed by socialism ideals rather than capitalism, and where morality is based on social scientific experimentation, rather than traditional religion.Francine Cary, "Albert Chavannes and the Future Commonwealth: The Utopian Novelist As Social Critic," East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, Vol. 48 (1976), pp. 71-84. Chavannes was also one of the earliest social theorists to extensively discuss exchange theory,Russell Cropanzano and Deborah Rupp, " Social Exchange Theory and Organizational Justice," Justice, Morality, and Social Responsibility (Information Age Publishing, 2008), pp. 69-71. and his ideas on "magnetism" (magnetation)J. William Lloyd, " The Karezza Method or Magnetation: The Art of Connubial Love (Privately Printed for the Author 1931), pp. 7-8. influenced writers such as J. William Lloyd and Ida C. Craddock.Leigh Eric Schmidt, Heaven's Bride: The Unprintable Life of Ida C. Craddock (New York: Basic Books, 2010), pp. 148, 154.
Albert Chavannes married fellow French Swiss immigrant Cecile Bolli in 1857, and the two settled down to a life of dairy farming. One of Chavannes' earliest writings was an article entitled, "How Manure Is Made in Switzerland," published in the agricultural journal, The Cultivator, in 1858. This article was inspired by a trip Chavannes had made to his home country the previous year.Albert Chavannes, " How Manure Is Made In Switzerland," The Cultivator, Vol. 6, No. 3 (March 1858), pp. 78-79.
During the Civil War, Chavannes supported the Confederacy. He was part of the citizens-guard that defended Knoxville from a raid by Union general William P. Sanders in June 1863, and later provided an account of this raid in his book, East Tennessee Sketches.Albert Chavannes, "Saunders' Raid," East Tennessee Sketches (Knoxville, Tenn.: 1900), pp. 77-88. In 1864, following the occupation of Knoxville by Union forces, Chavannes moved to Berkshire, New York, where he opened a woodworking shop. His experiences in New York would later inspire his novel, Lizzie Melton, A Self-Reliant Girl.Albert Chavannes, Lizzie Melton: A Self-Reliant Girl, The Complete Works of Albert Chavannes, Vol. 2 (Knoxville, Tenn., 1900/1903), pp. ii-iii. In 1870, he moved back to Knox County, where he established a new dairy farm in the Adair Creek area north of Knoxville.
Around the age of 40, Chavannes began questioning the religious traditions with which he was raised, his chief inspiration being the Theory of Evolution.Albert Chavannes, The Nature of the Mind, The Complete Works of Albert Chavannes, Vol. 3 (Knoxville, Tenn.: 1898/1903), p. 1. Between 1883 and 1885, Chavannes published a journal, The Sociologist. In the late 1880s, Chavannes began to theorize on emotional and sexual exchanges between humans, which he called "magnetism" (J. William Lloyd, with whom Chavannes had been corresponding, later wrote that he had suggested the term "magnetation" to Chavannes).J. William Lloyd, The Karezza Method or Magnetation: The Art of Connubial Love (1931), p. 5. In 1888, Chavannes published his theories on magnetism in his book, Vital Force and Magnetic Exchange.
By the 1890s, Chavannes was exchanging ideas with socialists Lester Frank Ward and Edward Bellamy.Edward Rafferty, Apostle of Human Progress: Lester Frank Ward and American Political Thought (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2003), p. 190. In 1892, Chavannes published his first Socioland novel, The Future Commonwealth. That year, Chavannes ran for the state legislature on the Populist ticket, but lost badly.Cecile Chavannes, "Canvassing the District," East Tennessee Sketches (Knoxville, Tenn.: 1900), p. 1. His wife, Cecile, wrote an account of their canvassing trip across rural East Tennessee that was included in their book, East Tennessee Sketches.
Chavannes wrote a non-fiction follow-up to The Future Commonwealth in 1893 entitled, The Concentration of Wealth, and published his second Socioland novel, In Brighter Climes, in 1895. He published several more works on magnetism in the late 1890s. Chavannes died in 1903, and is buried in the Spring Place Presbyterian Church Cemetery in northeast Knoxville.
In The Future Commonwealth, Socioland is described as a country where major industries and modes of transportation are publicly owned, but controlled by popularly elected directors rather than the central government. Individuals may earn profits, though the accumulation of interest is barred. Land is publicly owned, but leases tantamount to ownership can be granted.Albert Chavannes, The Future Commonwealth, or What Samuel Balcom Saw in Socioland (New York: The Nationalist Publishing Company, 1892). All children receive the same educational opportunities, and are required to serve a 6-year apprenticeship. The government provides health care, utilities, bread, and basic services such as laundry. Because work is more evenly divided, individuals only work for a few hours per day.
In Brighter Climes follows Charles Morrill and his wife Mary, who were inspired by Chavannes' The Future Commonwealth to migrate to Socioland. When the Morrills arrive, they find that the Sociolanders are concerned that elements of capitalism are creeping into their economy, and eventually decide to implement a communist-style system. Laws regarding marriage are lax, and divorce is much easier to obtain for both males and females. Artists and writers receive no money for their work, with Sociolanders likening selling one's genius to prostitution. In his introduction to the book, Chavannes states that Mary's letters were written by an "unnamed female," though he wrote the remainder of the book.
"Magnetism," according to Chavannes, is the exchange of vital force between two individuals. Intellectual magnetism involves the exchange of thoughts, emotional magnetism involves the exchange of sympathy and affection, and sexual magnetism is exchanged through ejaculation during sexual intercourse. Chavannes believed that individuals require magnetic equilibrium, and suggested that misbehavior and general unpleasantness result from too much or too little stored vital force.
Chavannes argued that the exchange of magnetism through ejaculation ruined an individual's equilibrium. He suggested that individuals therefore practice sexual continence. Chavannes' ideas on sexual magnetism would later provide inspiration for the Karezza method originated by Dr. Alice Bunker Stockham and further developed by J William Lloyd.
Chavannes considered his 1900 work, Lizzie Melton, A Self-Reliant Girl, to be his only full-fledged novel. The book is essentially a critique of Victorian morals regarding women, with the title character being ostracized by the community after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The novel is set in Richland, New York, with characters and scenes inspired by Chavannes' experiences in the region following the Civil War.
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