ABSTRACT
Richard Congreve’s attempts to translate Comte’s Occidental Republic utopia into a reality are the focus of this chapter. Here Congreve used history and geography as the basis of sociological surveys for justifying his Systematic Policy, which called for the establishment of a network of Positivist ‘spiritual institutions’. While seeking to facilitate the devolution of Western empires into an idyllic self-governing city-state system, these institutions also sought to provide the cultural and economic foundations for all to live ‘the good life’. The chapter situates Congreve as among the first Victorians to seek to harmonise international and urban-regional affairs as the basis of ethical community-making.
