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{{short description|1974 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = The Dispossessed
| title_orig        = 
| translator        = 
| image             = TheDispossed(1stEdHardcover).jpg
| border            = yes
| caption           = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
| author            = [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]
| illustrator       = 
| cover_artist      = Fred Winkowski
| country           = United States
| language          = English
| series            = The [[Hainish Cycle]]
| subject           = 
| genre             = [[Science fiction]]
| published         = 1974 ([[Harper & Row]])
| media_type        = Print ([[hardcover]] and [[paperback]])
| pages             = 341 (first edition)
| awards            = [[Locus Award for Best Novel]] (1975) <br>
[[Hugo Award for Best Novel]] (1975) <br>
[[Nebula Award for Best Novel]] (1975)
| isbn              = 0-06-012563-2
| isbn_note         = (first edition, hardcover)
| oclc              = 800587
| preceded_by       = [[The Word for World is Forest]]
| followed_by       = [[Four Ways to Forgiveness]]
}}
'''''The Dispossessed''''' (subtitled '''''An Ambiguous Utopia''''') is a 1974 anarchist utopian [[science fiction]] novel by American writer [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], one of her seven [[Hainish Cycle]] novels. It is one of a small number of books to win all three awards—[[Hugo Award for Best Novel|Hugo]], [[Locus Award for Best Novel|Locus]], and [[Nebula Award for Best Novel|Nebula]]—for best science fiction or fantasy novel.<ref name="SFADB">{{cite web |url= http://www.sfadb.com/Ursula_K_Le_Guin |title=Ursula K. Le Guin Awards |work=[[Science Fiction Awards Database]] |publisher=Locus Science Fiction Foundation |access-date=2021-09-24}}</ref> It achieved a degree of literary recognition unusual for science fiction because of its exploration of themes such as [[anarchism]] and [[Revolution|revolutionary societies]], [[capitalism]], [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|utopia]], [[individualism]], and [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]].

The novel features the development of the mathematical theory underlying a fictional ''[[ansible]]'', a device capable of [[faster-than-light communication]], which can send messages without delay, even between star systems. This device plays a critical role in the Hainish Cycle. The invention of the ansible places the novel first in the [[Hainish Cycle#Sequence of writing versus story chronology|internal chronology of the Hainish Cycle]], although it was the fifth to be published.<ref>In ''[[The Word for World is Forest]]'', a newly created ansible is brought to Athshe, a planet being settled by [[Earth]]-[[humans]]. In other tales in the Hainish Cycle, an ansible already exists. The word "ansible" was coined in ''[[Rocannon's World]]'' (first in order of publication but third in internal chronology), where it is central to the plot, and became an important concept throughout the realm of [[science fiction]].</ref>

==Background==
In her introduction to the [[Library of America]] reprint in 2017, Le Guin reflected on her past 40 years by writing: 
{{blockquote|''The Dispossessed'' started as a very bad [[short story]], which I didn't try to finish but couldn't quite let go. There was a book in it, and I knew it, but the book had to wait for me to learn what I was writing about and how to write about it. I needed to understand my own passionate [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition to the war]] that we were, endlessly it seemed, waging in Vietnam, and endlessly [[List of protests against the Vietnam War|protesting at home]]. If I had known then that my country would continue making aggressive wars for the rest of my life, I might have had less energy for protesting that one. But, knowing only that I didn't want to study war no more,<ref>An allusion to the spiritual "[[Down by the Riverside]]"</ref> I studied peace. I started by reading a whole mess of utopias and learning something about pacifism and [[Gandhi]] and [[nonviolent resistance]]. This led me to the nonviolent anarchist writers such as [[Peter Kropotkin]] and [[Paul Goodman]]. With them I felt a great, immediate affinity. They made sense to me in the way [[Lao Tzu]] did. They enabled me to think about war, peace, politics, how we govern one another and ourselves, the value of failure, and the strength of what is weak.

So, when I realized that nobody had yet written an anarchist utopia, I finally began to see what my book might be. And I found that its principal character, whom I'd first glimpsed in the original misbegotten story, was alive and well—my guide to Anarres.<ref>[https://www.tor.com/2017/08/30/introduction-from-ursula-k-le-guin-the-hainish-novels-stories-volume-one/ “Introduction” from Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume One], retrieved 9/8/2017</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Le Guin's parents, anthropologist [[Alfred L. Kroeber|Alfred]] and writer [[Theodora Kroeber]], were friends with [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]; Le Guin stated that Oppenheimer was the model for Shevek, the book's protagonist.<ref>{{cite book|last=Spivack|first=Charlotte|title=Ursula K. Le Guin|year=1984|publisher=Twayne Publishers|location=Boston|isbn=0805773932|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ursulakleguin00char}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

==Meaning of the title==
It has been suggested that Le Guin's title is a reference to [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoyevsky's]] novel about anarchists, ''[[Demons (Dostoyevsky novel)|Demons]]'' ({{langx|ru|Бесы}}, ''Bésy''), one popular English-language translation of which is titled ''The Possessed''.<ref name="paul_brians2"/> Many of the philosophical underpinnings and ecological concepts came from [[Murray Bookchin]]'s ''[[Post-Scarcity Anarchism]]'' (1971), according to a letter Le Guin sent to Bookchin.<ref>Janet Biehl, Bookchin biographer; letter in UKL archive</ref> [[Anarres]] citizens are ''dispossessed'' not just by political choice, but by the very lack of actual resources to possess. Here, again, Le Guin draws a contrast with the natural wealth of Urras, and the competitive behaviors this fosters.<ref>Mathiesen.</ref>

==Setting==

''The Dispossessed'' is set on [[Anarres]] and Urras, the twin inhabited worlds of [[Tau Ceti]]. Urras is divided into several states, but is dominated by two rival superpowers, A-Io and Thu. While on Urras, the main character spends most of his time in A-Io, a state with a [[capitalism|capitalist]] economy and a [[patriarchy|patriarchal system]]. The state of Thu is never actually visited, but is said to have an [[authoritarian]] system that claims to rule in the name of the [[proletariat]]. A-Io has dissent in its borders, including a few different oppositional [[left-wing]] parties, one of which is closely linked to the rival society of Thu. When a revolution is sparked in Benbili, the third major, yet undeveloped, area of Urras, A-Io invades the Thu-supported revolutionary area, generating a [[proxy war]].

The moon, Anarres, represents a more idealist ideological structure: [[anarcho-syndicalism]]. The Anarresti, who call themselves Odonians after the founder of their political philosophy, arrived on Anarres from Urras around 200 years ago. In order to forestall an anarcho-syndicalist rebellion, the major Urrasti states gave the revolutionaries the right to live on Anarres, along with a guarantee of non-interference. Before this, Anarres had had no permanent settlements, apart from some mining facilities.

Anarres is settled after a revolution on Urras by the followers of Odo, the central character of Le Guin's 1974 short story ''[[The Day Before the Revolution]]''.<ref>{{cite book | title=Ursula K. Le Guin | last=Spivack | first=Charlotte | publisher=Twayne Publishers | location=Boston, MA | year=1984 | isbn=0-8057-7393-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/ursulakleguin00char|pages=74–75}}</ref>

The economic and political situation of Anarres and its relation to Urras is ambiguous. The people of Anarres consider themselves as being free and independent, having broken off from the political and social influence of the old world. However, the powers of Urras consider Anarres as being essentially their mining colony, as the annual consignment of Anarres's precious metals and their distribution to major powers on Urras is a major economic event of the old world.

=== Theoretical timeline ===
In the last chapter of ''The Dispossessed'', it is revealed that the Hainish people arrived at Tau Ceti 60 years previously, which is more than 100 years after the [[secession]] of the Odonians from Urras and their exodus to Anarres. Terrans are also there, and the novel occurs some time in the future, according to an elaborate chronology worked out by science fiction author [[Ian Watson (author)|Ian Watson]] in 1975: "the baseline date of AD 2300 for ''The Dispossessed'' is taken from the description of Earth in that book (§11) as having passed through an ecological and social collapse with a population peak of 9 billion to a low-population but highly centralized recovery economy."<ref>{{cite web |first= Ian |last= Watson | title= Le Guin's ''Lathe of Heaven'' and the Role of Dick: The False Reality as Mediator| publisher= Science Fiction Studies # 5 = Volume 2, Part 1 | date=March 1975 | access-date=2017-02-26 |url= http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/watson5art.htm}}</ref> In the same article, Watson assigns a date of AD 4870 to ''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]]''; both dates are problematic — as Watson says himself, they are contradicted by "Genly Ai's statement that Terrans 'were ignorant until about three thousand years ago of the uses of zero'".

== Story ==
The chapters alternate between the two planets and between the present and the past. The even-numbered chapters, which are set on Anarres, chronologically take place first and are followed by the odd-numbered chapters, which take place on Urras. The only exceptions occur in the first and last chapters: the first takes place on both the moon and the planet; the last takes place in a spaceship.
{| class="wikitable"
!Chronological order of chapters
|-
|2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13
|}

===Anarres (chapters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12)===
Chapter One begins in the middle of the story (''[[in media res]]''). The protagonist Shevek is an Anarresti physicist attempting to develop a General Temporal Theory. The physics of the book, Principles of Simultaneity, describes time as having a much deeper, more complex structure than as it is understood. It incorporates not only mathematics and physics, but also philosophy and ethics. Shevek finds his work blocked by a jealous superior, Sabul, who controls the publication of Anarresti manuscripts. As his theories conflict with the prevailing political philosophy, Shevek believes that his ideas are discordant with Anarresti society. Throughout his time in Abbenay, he runs into old acquaintances from his adolescence and his mother, Rulag. One of his old female acquaintances, Takver, becomes involved with Shevek and the two start a relationship and have their first child together.

Shevek's work is further disrupted by his social obligation to perform manual labor during a drought in Anarres's anarchist society. To ensure survival in a harsh environment, the people of Anarres must put the needs of society ahead of their own personal desires, so Shevek performs hard agricultural labor in a dusty desert for four years instead of working on his research. After the drought, he arranges to go to Urras, having won a prestigious award for his work there, to finish and publish his theory with the help of the syndicate he set up to distribute his works. His contact with scholars on Urras and his decision to travel results in political turmoil on Anarres. Shevek is accused of being a traitor by Sabul and threatening the political separation between the two worlds. Believing that his theory will benefit the Anarresti and the wider society, Shevek embarks to Urras.

===Urras (chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11)===
Shevek's journey to the only spaceport in Anarres is eventful. Having been deemed a traitor by some groups on the planet, Shevek is nearly killed as an angry mob tries to stop him getting on the spaceship to A-Io. Arriving in A-Io, Urras, Shevek is feted. He soon finds himself disgusted with the social, sexual, and political conventions of the hierarchical capitalist society of Urras. His grievances are further explored with the outbreak of war in neighbouring Benbili, of which A-Io is involved with rivalling Thu. At Ieu Eun University, Shevek struggles with teaching the Urrasti students and is manipulated by the physicists there, who hope that his breakthrough on the General Temporal Theory will allow them to build a faster-than-light ship. A mysterious note asking him to join his 'brothers' spooks Shevek, knowing that fellow like-minded anarchists are on Urras - in the shadows. Eventually, at a dinner party, a drunken Shevek publicly denounces his peers on A-Io, scolding them for their materialistic lives and taking their splendor for granted, before leading to a disastrous sexual encounter that further alienates Shevek from his peers. He has a sobering realisation that the theory he proposes will be capitalised by the Urrasti for potential warfare, not for the benefit of society. Shevek escapes the university, contacts an underground revolutionary group from the note he found, joining in a labor protest in Nio Esseia that is violently suppressed. He flees to the Terran embassy, where he asks them to transmit his theory to all worlds. The Terrans provide him safe passage back to Anarres.

===Onboard the ''Davenant'' (chapter 13)===
For interplanetary travel to his world, Anarres, Shevek is shown around a Hainish spaceship. Hainish culture is described. A Hainishman named Ketho, who sympathizes with Odonian thought, wants to disembark with Shevek when they land on Anarres. Not knowing if the Anarresti will welcome him back with open arms, Shevek remains content thinking about his family as the spaceship begins to land.

==Themes==

=== Symbolism ===
The ambiguity of Anarres's economic and political situation in relation to Urras is symbolically manifested in the low wall surrounding Anarres's single spaceport. This wall is the only place on the [[anarchist]] planet where "No Trespassing!" signs may be seen, and it is where the book begins and ends. The people of Anarres believe that the wall divides a free world from the corrupting influence of an oppressor's ships. On the other hand, the wall could be a prison wall keeping the rest of the planet imprisoned and cut off. Shevek's life attempts to answer this question.

In addition to Shevek's journey to answer questions about his society's true level of freedom, the meaning of his theories themselves weave their way into the plot; they not only describe abstract physical concepts, but they also reflect ups and downs of the characters' lives, and the transformation of the Anarresti society. An oft-quoted saying in the book is "true journey is return."<ref>Said by Shevek near the end of Chapter 13</ref> The meaning of Shevek's theories—which deal with the nature of time and simultaneity—have been subject to interpretation. For example, there have been interpretations that the non-linear nature of the novel is a reproduction of Shevek's theory.<ref>Rigsby, Ellen M. (2005), p. 169</ref>

=== Anarchism and capitalism ===
In her foreword to the collected Hainish novels, Le Guin notes her "great, immediate affinity" with anarchist thinkers [[Peter Kropotkin]] and [[Paul Goodman]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2017/08/30/introduction-from-ursula-k-le-guin-the-hainish-novels-stories-volume-one/|title="Introduction" from Ursula K. Le Guin: ''The Hainish Novels & Stories'', Volume One|last=Le Guin|first=Ursula|date=30 August 2017 }}</ref> Elsewhere, she writes that "Odonism is anarchism," mentioning parallels with [[Emma Goldman]],  [[Taoism]] and [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]. For Le Guin, anarchism's "principal target is the authoritarian State (capitalist or socialist); its principal moral-practical theme is cooperation (solidarity, [[Mutual aid (organization theory)|mutual aid]])."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Wind's Twelve Quarters|last=Le Guin|first=Ursula|publisher=Bantam Books|date=1975}}</ref>

Both on Anarres and Urras, many conflicts occur between these anarchist principles and the constraints imposed by authority and society. On Anarres, there are no written laws. However, in practice, there are strong conventions about how most things should be done, which frustrate Shevek throughout the novel. Money is also not used, and instead the Anarresti rely on the DivLab database to match volunteer labor with work assignments. Via these conventions and institutions, ''The Dispossessed'' depicts an anarchist-syndicalist alternative to capitalism. Le Guin's computational economy combines a central economic plan for society with democratic decision-making on a syndicalist model, bureaucratic and computational efficiency, and a negotiated tension among syndicate federalism, individual autonomy, and the danger of centralized authority."<ref>Elizabeth Stainforth and Jo Lindsay Walton. 2019. ‘Computing Utopia: The Horizons of Computational Economies in History and Science Fiction’. ''Science Fiction Studies'' 46 (3): 471–89. https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.46.3.0471.</ref>

{{Anchor|Pravic|Language}}The language spoken on Anarres also reflects anarchism. Pravic is a [[constructed language]] in the tradition of [[Esperanto]]. Pravic reflects many aspects of the philosophical foundations of utopian anarchism.<ref>Laurence, Davis and Peter G. Stillman. ''The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed'', Lexington Books (2005). Pp. 287-298.</ref> For instance, the use of the [[possessive case]] is strongly discouraged, a feature that also is reflected by the novel's title.<ref>Conley, Tim and Stephen Cain. ''Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages''. Greenwood Press, Westport (2006). Pp. 46-47.</ref> Children are trained to speak only about matters that interest others; anything else is "egoizing" (pp.&nbsp;28–31). There is no property ownership of any kind. Shevek's daughter, upon meeting him for the first time, tells him, "You can share the handkerchief I use"<ref name="Dispossessed2">Ursula K. Le Guin, ''The Dispossessed'', p.69.</ref> rather than "You may borrow my handkerchief", thus conveying the idea that the handkerchief is not owned by the girl, but is merely used by her.<ref name="Burton-19852">Burton (1985).</ref>

=== Utopianism ===
The work is sometimes said to represent a modern revival of the [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|utopian genre]].<ref name="Davis-20052">Davis and Stillman (2005).</ref> When first published, the book included the tagline: "The magnificent epic of an ambiguous utopia!" which was shortened by fans to "An ambiguous utopia" and adopted as a subtitle in certain editions.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://io9.gizmodo.com/5607981/ursula-le-guins-the-dispossessed-when-you-want-to-like-a-book-but-dont| title = Book review discussing meanings| work = io9| date = 29 August 2010| last1 = Wimmer| first1 = Josh| access-date = April 8, 2017| archive-date = November 16, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181116024010/https://io9.gizmodo.com/5607981/ursula-le-guins-the-dispossessed-when-you-want-to-like-a-book-but-dont| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/20719930| title = Penn State University Press listing| jstor = 20719930}}</ref>

Le Guin brings her own innovations to the literary tradition of utopia. Many earlier utopian novels featured a visitor to utopia, as a device to teach the reader about its institutions. However ''The Dispossessed'' inverts this, by having Shevek, dissatisfied with his life in Anarres, travel to Urras. ''The Dispossessed'' also does not seek to portray Anarres as a society that is absolutely good, but only as "ambiguously good".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Bierman |first=Judah |url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/7/bierman7art.htm |title=Ambiguity in Utopia: The Dispossessed |journal=[[Science Fiction Studies]] |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=249–255 |year=1975 |jstor=4238976}}</ref>

Tom Moylan describes ''The Dispossessed'' as "the best known and the most popular of the critical utopias published in the 1970s."<ref>Tom Moylan, ''Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination''. Ed., Raffaella Baccolini. Bern: Peter Lang (2014), p. 87.</ref> 'Critical' utopian fiction continues to embrace utopian ideals, but it is cautious of being too prescriptive, and tends to focus on "the continuing presence of difference and imperfection within utopian society itself."<ref>Tom Moylan, ''Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination''. Ed., Raffaella Baccolini. Bern: Peter Lang (2014), p. 10.</ref> ''The Dispossessed'' shares with many later critical utopias, including [[Iain M. Banks]]'s [[The Culture|Culture]] series and [[Samuel R. Delany]]'s ''[[Trouble on Triton]]'', a focus on utopia's discontents, and an interest in how utopian society interacts with its neighbors.

=== Feminism ===
Some critics disagree as to whether ''The Dispossessed'' should be considered a [[Feminism|feminist]] utopia or a [[feminist science fiction]] novel. According to Mary Morrison of the ''State University of New York at Buffalo'' (SUNY), the anarchist themes in this book help to promote feminist themes as well.{{r|Morrison}} Other critics, such as William Marcellino of SUNY and [[Sarah LeFanu]], writer of "Popular Writing and Feminist Intervention in Science Fiction," argue that there are distinct [[anti-feminist]] undertones throughout the novel.{{r|Marcellino|Lefanu}}

Morrison argues that Le Guin's portrayed ideals of [[Taoism]], the celebration of labor and the body, and desire for sexual freedom in an anarchist society contribute greatly to the book's feminist message. Taoism, which rejects dualisms and divisions in favor of a [[Yin and Yang]] balance, brings attention to the balance between not only the two planets, but between the male and female inhabitants. The celebration of labor on Anarres stems from a celebration of a mother's labor, focusing on creating life rather than on building objects. The sexual freedom on Anarres also contributes to the book's feminist message.<ref name=Morrison>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|878894517}} |last1=Morrison |first1=Mary Irene |title=Anarcho-feminism and permanent revolution in Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Dispossessed' |publisher=State University of New York at Buffalo |year=2011 }}</ref>

On the other hand, some critics believe that Le Guin's feminist themes are either weak or not present. Some believe that the Taoist interdependence between the genders actually weakens Le Guin's feminist message. Marcellino believes that the anarchist themes in the novel take precedence and dwarf any feminist themes.<ref name=Marcellino>{{cite journal |last1=Marcellino |first1=William |title=''Shadows to Walk'': Ursula Le Guin's Transgressions in Utopia |journal=The Journal of American Culture |date=September 2009 |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=203–213 |id={{ProQuest|200658410}} |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.2009.00711.x }}</ref> Lefanu adds that there is a difference between the feminist messages that the book explicitly presents and the anti-feminist undertones. For example, the book says that women created the society on Anarres. However, female characters seem secondary to the male protagonist, who seems to be a traditional male hero; Lefanu asserts that this subversion weakens any feminist message that Le Guin was trying to convey.<ref name=Lefanu>{{cite book |last1=Lefanu |first1=Sarah |chapter=Popular Writing and Feminist Intervention in Science Fiction |pages=177–191 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjq9QFbOGuEC&pg=PA177 |editor1-last=Longhurst |editor1-first=Derek |title=Gender, Genre & Narrative Pleasure |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-32152-8 }}</ref>

=== Prison abolition ===

Odo, the founder of Anarresti society, wrote her most influential works during a nine-year imprisonment. Anarres itself has no prisons. Its post-carceral nature becomes apparent in chapter two, when a group of Annaresti schoolchildren learn about prisons in their history lesson.<ref name="paul_brians2">[http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/dispossessed.html "Study Guide for Ursula LeGuin: '''The Dispossessed''' (1974)" - Paul Brians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107225601/http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/dispossessed.html |date=2005-11-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://doukhobor666.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/the-dispossessed/|title=The Dispossessed|date=20 December 2015 |publisher=Samizdat (2015)|access-date=2016-10-28}}</ref> The teacher describes prisons "with the reluctance of a decent adult forced to explain an obscenity to children. Yes, he said, a prison was a place where a State put people
who disobeyed its Laws."<ref>{{cite book |last=Le Guin |first=Ursula| title=The Dispossessed| pages=44| chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> Fascinated by this "perversity", the schoolchildren construct their own prison and detain one of their own inside. They are ultimately horrified by the experience.

Figurative imprisonment is an important theme in the novel too. In both the Urrasti and Anarresti parts of the novel, "time after time the question of who is being locked out or in, which side of the wall one is on, is the focus of the narrative."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/7/barbour7art.htm|title=Wholeness and Balance|last=Barbour|first=Douglas|publisher=Science Fiction Studies (1975)|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref> Mark Tunik emphasises that ''the wall'' is the dominant metaphor for social constraints in ''The Dispossessed''. While on Urras, Shevek hits "the wall of charm, courtesy, indifference." He later notes that he let a "wall be built around him" that kept him from seeing the poor people on Urras. He had been co-opted, with walls of smiles of the rich, and he didn't know how to break them down. Shevek at one point speculates that the people on Urras are not truly free, precisely because they have so many walls built between people and are so possessive. He says, "You are all in jail. Each alone, solitary, with a heap of what he owns. You live in prison, die in prison. It is all I can see in your eyes – the wall, the wall!" '<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/7017991|title=The Need for Walls: Privacy, Community, and Freedom in The Dispossessed|last=Tunik|first=Mark|date=January 2005 |publisher=Lexington Books (2005)|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref>

It is not just the state of mind of those inside the prisons that concerns Shevek, he also notes the effect on those outside the walls. Steve Grossi says, "by building a physical wall to keep the bad in, we construct a mental wall keeping ourselves, our thoughts, and our empathy out, to the collective detriment of all." Shevek himself later says, "those who build walls are their own prisoners."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevegrossi.com/on/the-dispossessed|title=The Dispossessed|last=Grossi|first=Steve|date=2 February 2013 |publisher=Steve Grossi (2013)|access-date=2016-10-27}}</ref>

== Publication ==

In Le Guin's book-writing process, the story always came to her through a character rather than an event, idea, plot, or society. The story behind ''The Dispossessed'' first occurred to Le Guin through a vision, revealed as if seen from a distance, first as a male physicist, his thin face, clear eyes, large ears, possibly recalling a memory of Robert Oppenheimer, and a vivid personality.{{sfn|Le Guin|1989|pp=107–108}} She attempted to capture the character in a short story in what she recalled as one of her worst in 30 years of writing, in which the physicist escapes a gulag planet for a nearby wealthy sister planet, where he has a love affair but likes the planet even less, and so nobly returns to the gulag. She proceeded to rewrite the story, beginning with his name and origin—Shevek, from Utopia—which she considered reasonable based on his intelligence and disarming naivety. Knowing only bits of [[Thomas More]] (''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]''), [[William Morris]] (''[[News from Nowhere]]''), [[William Henry Hudson]] (''[[A Crystal Age]]''), and [[H. G. Wells]] (''[[A Modern Utopia]]''),<!-- can remove these specific works if confusing/she didn't mention them in specific but they're lesser known than the following authors--> Le Guin's reading of modern [[libertarian socialist]]s rounded Shevek's prison planet into a place where she saw he would want to return: [[Marx and Engels]], [[William Godwin]], [[Emma Goldman]], [[Paul Goodman]] and, foremost, [[Peter Kropotkin]] and [[Mary Shelley]].<!--assuming not Percy-->{{sfn|Le Guin|1989|pp=108–109}}<!-- more to paraphrase in source -->

Le Guin wrote ''The Dispossessed'' in 1973 for publication in May<ref name="MarrsHager2019">{{cite book|last1=Marrs|first1=Cody|last2=Hager|first2=Christopher|title=Timelines of American Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lA-GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103|date=2019|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-2713-3|page=103}}</ref> or June 1974.<ref name="Guin1979">{{cite book|last=Guin|first=Ursula K. Le|title=The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksOjjuy3issC&pg=PA241|year=1979|publisher=Ultramarine Publishing|isbn=978-0-399-50482-2|page=241}}</ref><!-- is this true? -->

==Critical reception==
The novel received generally positive reviews. On the positive side, [[Baird Searles]] characterized the novel as an "extraordinary work", saying Le Guin had "created a working society in exquisite detail" and "a fully realized hypothetical culture [as well as] living breathing characters who are inevitable products of that culture".<ref>"The Dispossessed: Visit from A Small Planet", ''[[Village Voice]]'', November 21, 1974, pp.56, 58</ref> Gerald Jonas, writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'', said that "Le Guin's book, written in her solid, no-nonsense prose, is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive [[Utopia]]s for at least 10 years".<ref>"Of Things to Come", ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'', October 26, 1975</ref> [[Theodore Sturgeon]] praised ''The Dispossessed'' as "a beautifully written, beautifully composed book", saying "it performs one of [science fiction's] prime functions, which is to create another kind of social system to see how it would work. Or if it would work."<ref>"Galaxy Bookshelf", ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]'', June 1974, pp.97-98</ref>

[[Lester del Rey]], however, gave the novel a mixed review, citing the quality of Le Guin's writing but claiming that the ending "slips badly", a ''[[deus ex machina]]'' that "destroy[s] much of the strength of the novel".<ref>"Reading Room", [[If (magazine)|''If'']], August 1974, pp.144-45</ref>

==Awards==

{| class=wikitable
! Award 
! style="min-width: 6em" | Result<ref name=SFADB/>
|-
| [[Hugo Award for Best Novel]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[John W. Campbell Memorial Award]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Locus Award for Best Novel]] 
| {{won}} 
|-
| [[Nebula Award for Best Novel]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Prometheus Award]] Hall of Fame
| {{won}}
|}

==Adaptations==
In 1987, the CBC Radio anthology program ''[[Vanishing Point (CBC)|Vanishing Point]]'' adapted ''The Dispossessed'' into a series of six 30 minute episodes.<ref name="test">[http://otrarchive.blogspot.com/2009/06/vanishing-point-cbc.html Times Past Old Time Radio Archives].</ref>

On October 5, 2021, it was announced that 1212 Entertainment and Anonymous Content would adapt the novel into a limited series.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Otterson|first=Joe|date=2021-10-05|title=1212 Entertainment, Anonymous Content Team to Adapt Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Dispossessed' as TV Series (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/ursula-k-le-guin-the-dispossessed-tv-series-1235081211/|access-date=2022-01-17|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Translations==

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
*[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]: ''{{lang|az|Mülksüzlər}}'', 2021
*[[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]: ''{{lang|bg|Освободеният}}''
*[[Chinese language|Chinese (Simplified)]]: {{lang|zh-Hans|一无所有}}, 2009
*[[Chinese language|Chinese (Traditional)]]: {{lang|zh-Hant|一無所有}}, 2005
*[[Catalan language|Catalan]]: ''Els desposseïts'', 2018
*[[Croatian language|Croatian]]: ''{{lang|hr|Ljudi bez ičega}}'', 2009
*[[Czech language|Czech]]: ''{{lang|cs|Vyděděnec}}'', 1995
*[[Danish language|Danish]]: ''{{lang|da|De udstødte : en socialistisk utopi}}'', 1979
*[[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''{{lang|nl|De Ontheemde}}''
*[[Estonian language|Estonian]]: ''Ilmajäetud'', 2018
*[[Finnish language|Finnish]]: ''{{lang|fi|Osattomien planeetta}}'', 1979
*[[French language|French]]: ''{{lang|fr|Les Dépossédés}}'', 1975
*[[Georgian language|Georgian]]: ''{{lang|ka|განპყრობილები}}'', 2018
*[[German language|German]]: ''{{ill|Planet der Habenichtse|de}}'', 1976, later ''{{Lang|de|Die Enteigneten}}'', 2006, later ''{{Lang|de|Freie Geister}}'', 2017
*[[Greek language|Greek]]: ''{{Lang|el|Ο αναρχικός των δύο κόσμων}}''
{{col-break}}
*[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: ''{{Lang|he|המנושל}}'',&lrm; 1980; later ''{{Lang|he|בידיים ריקות}}'',&lrm; 2015
*[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]: ''{{lang|hu|A kisemmizettek}}'', 1994
*[[Italian language|Italian]]: ''{{lang|it|I reietti dell'altro pianeta}}'', later ''{{Lang|it|Quelli di Anarres}}'', 1976
*[[Japanese language|Japanese]]: {{Lang|ja|所有せざる人々}}, 1980
*[[Korean language|Korean]]: {{Lang|ko|빼앗긴 자들}}'', 2002''
*[[Persian language|Persian]]: ''{{lang|fa|خلع‌شدگان}}'', 2021
*[[Polish language|Polish]]: ''{{lang|pl|Wydziedziczeni}}''
*[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''{{lang|pt|Os Despossuídos}}'', ''{{lang|pt|Os Despojados}}''
*[[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''{{lang|ro|Deposedaţii}}'', 1995
*[[Russian language|Russian]]: ''{{lang|ru|Обездоленные}}'', 1994, ''{{lang|ru|Обделённые}}'', 1997
*[[Serbian language|Serbian]]: ''{{lang|sr|Čovek praznih šaka}}'', 1987
*[[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''{{lang|es|Los desposeídos}}'', 1983
*[[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''{{lang|sv|Shevek}}'', 1976; De obesuttna, 2020
*[[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''{{lang|tr|Mülksüzler}}'', 1990

{{col-end}}

==See also==

* [[Ursula K. Le Guin bibliography]]
* [[Anarchism in the arts]]

== Notes ==

{{Reflist}}

== Works cited ==

{{Refbegin}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Le Guin |first1=Ursula K. |editor-last1=Wood |editor-first1=Susan |chapter=Bibliographic Checklist of the Works of Ursula K. Le Guin |title=The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction |pages=240–249 |date=1989 |isbn=0-06-016835-8 |edition=Revised |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York }}

{{Refend}}

{{refbegin}}

===Anarchism and ''The Dispossessed''===
* John P. Brennan, "Anarchism and Utopian Tradition in ''The Dispossessed''", pp.&nbsp;116–152, in Olander & Greenberg, editors, ''Ursula K. Le Guin'', New York: Taplinger (1979).
* [[Samuel R. Delany]], "To Read ''The Dispossessed''," in ''The Jewel-Hinged Jaw''. N.Y.: Dragon Press, 1977, pp.&nbsp;239–308 (anarchism in ''The Dispossessed''). [http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780819572462/9780819572462-13.pdf (pdf available online] through [[Project MUSE]]) 
* Neil Easterbrook, "State, Heterotopia: The Political Imagination in Heinlein, Le Guin, and Delany", pp.&nbsp;43–75, in Hassler & Wilcox, editors, ''Political Science Fiction'', Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina Press (1997).
* Leonard M. Fleck, "Science Fiction as a Tool of Speculative Philosophy: A Philosophic Analysis of Selected Anarchistic and Utopian Themes in Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed''", pp.&nbsp;133–45, in Remington, editor, ''Selected Proceedings of the 1978 Science Fiction Research Association National Conference'', Cedar Falls: Univ. of Northern Iowa (1979).
* {{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=John |title=An Archaeology of the Future: Ursula K. Le Guin and Anarcho-Primitivism |journal=Foundation |volume=63 |date=Spring 1995 |pages=32–39 }}
* Elizabeth Stainforth and Jo Lindsay Walton. 2019. 'Computing Utopia: The Horizons of Computational Economies in History and Science Fiction'. ''Science Fiction Studies'' 46 (3): 471–89. https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.46.3.0471.
* Larry L. Tifft, "Possessed Sociology and Le Guin's ''Dispossessed'': From Exile to Anarchism", pp.&nbsp;180–197, in De Bolt & Malzberg, editors, ''Voyager to Inner Lands and to Outer Space'', Port Washington, NY: Kennikat (1979).
* Kingsley Widmer, "The Dialectics of Utopianism: Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed''", ''Liberal and Fine Arts Review'', v.3, nos.1–2, pp.&nbsp;1–11 (Jan.–July 1983).

===Gender and ''The Dispossessed''===
* Lillian M. Heldreth, "Speculations on Heterosexual Equality: Morris, McCaffrey, Le Guin", pp.&nbsp;209–220 in Palumbo, ed., ''Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature'', Westport, CT: Greenwood (1986).
* Neil Easterbrook, "State, Heterotopia: The Political Imagination in Heinlein, Le Guin, and Delany", pp.&nbsp;43–75, in Hassler & Wilcox, editors, ''Political Science Fiction'', Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina Press (1997).
* {{cite journal |last1=Klarer |first1=Mario |title=Gender and the 'Simultaneity Principle': Ursula Le Guin's 'The Dispossessed' |journal=Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature |date=1992 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=107–121 |jstor=24780621 }}
* Jim Villani, "The Woman Science Fiction Writer and the Non-Heroic Male Protagonist", pp.&nbsp;21–30 in Hassler, ed., ''Patterns of the Fantastic'', Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House (1983).

===Language and ''The Dispossessed''===
* {{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=Deirdre |title=Linguistic innovation in feminist utopian fiction |journal=Ilha do Desterro a Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies |date=1 January 1985 |issue=14 |pages=082–106 |url=https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/9003 }}

===Property and possessions===
* Werner Christie Mathiesen, "The Underestimation of Politics in Green Utopias: The Description of Politics in [[Aldous Huxley|Huxley]]'s ''Island'', Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed'', and [[Ernest Callenbach|Callenbach]]'s ''Ecotopia''", ''Utopian Studies: Journal of the Society for Utopian Studies'', v.12, n.1, pp.&nbsp;56–78 (2001).

===Science and ''The Dispossessed''===
* Ellen M. Rigsby, "Time and the Measure of the Political Animal." ''The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed.'' Ed., Laurence Davis and Peter Stillman. Lanham: Lexington books., 2005.

===Taoism and ''The Dispossessed''===
* Elizabeth Cummins Cogell, "Taoist Configurations: ''The Dispossessed''", pp.&nbsp;153–179 in De Bolt & [[Barry N. Malzberg|Malzberg]], editors, ''Ursula K. Le Guin: Voyager to Inner Lands and to Outer Space'', Port Washington, NY: Kennikat (1979).

===Utopian literature and ''The Dispossessed''===
* James W. Bittner, "Chronosophy, Ethics, and Aesthetics in Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia'', pp. 244–270 in Rabkin, Greenberg, and Olander, editors, ''No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction'', Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press (1983).
* John P. Brennan, "Anarchism and Utopian Tradition in ''The Dispossessed''", pp.&nbsp;116–152, in Olander & Greenberg, editors, ''Ursula K. Le Guin'', New York: Taplinger (1979).
* Tom Moylan, ''Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination''. Ed., Raffaella Baccolini. Bern: Peter Lang (2014). First published 1986.
* Bülent Somay, "Towards an Open-Ended Utopia", ''[[Science-Fiction Studies]]'', v.11, n.1 (#32), pp.&nbsp;25–38 (March 1984).
* Peter Fitting, "Positioning and Closure: On the 'Reading Effect' of Contemporary Utopian Fiction", ''Utopian Studies'', v.1, pp.&nbsp;23–36 (1987).
* Kingsley Widmer, "The Dialectics of Utopianism: Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed''", ''Liberal and Fine Arts Review'', v.3, nos.1–2, pp.&nbsp;1–11 (Jan.–July 1983).
* L. Davis and P. Stillman, editors, "The new utopian politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's ''The Dispossessed''", Lexington Books, (2005).
* Carter F. Hanson, "Memory's Offspring and Utopian Ambiguity in Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Day Before the Revolution' and ''The Dispossessed''", ''Science Fiction Studies'' (2013)

===Additional references===
* Judah Bierman, "Ambiguity in Utopia: ''The Dispossessed''", ''[[Science-Fiction Studies]]'', v.2, pp.&nbsp;249–255 (1975).
* James F. Collins, "The High Points So Far: An Annotated Bibliography of Ursula K. LeGuin's ''The Left Hand of Darkness'' and ''The Dispossessed''", ''Bulletin of Bibliography'', v.58, no.2, pp.&nbsp;89–100 (June 2001).
* James P. Farrelly, "The Promised Land: Moses, Nearing, Skinner, and Le Guin", ''JGE: The Journal of General Education'', v.33, n.1, pp.&nbsp;15–23 (Spring 1981).
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Ursula K. Le Guin#The Dispossessed (1974)|The Dispossessed}}
*Full text of [http://libcom.org/library/dispossessed-ursula-le-guin ''The Dispossessed''] at Libcom.org
*{{ISFDB title|id=7659|title=The Dispossessed}}
*[http://www.sfbrp.com/archives/120 Audio review and discussion of ''The Dispossessed''] at The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast
*Readable maps of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605130723/http://golwen.com.ar/fotos/anarres.jpg Anarres] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605134912/http://golwen.com.ar/fotos/urras.jpg Urras]
*[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel.asp?ID=22 ''The Dispossessed''] at Worlds Without End
*CBC Radio [[Vanishing Point (CBC)|Vanishing Point]] audio production of ''The Dispossessed'' at the [[Internet Archive]]: [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/VP_870612_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_1_of_6.mp3 Part 1], [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/VP_870619_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_2_of_6.mp3 2], [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/VP_870626_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_3_of_6.mp3 3], [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/VP_870703_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_4_of_6.mp3 4], [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/VP_870710_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_5_of_6.mp3 5], [https://archive.org/download/VPoint/Vp_870717_xx_The_Dispossessed__Part_6_of_6.mp3 6]

{{Ursula K. Le Guin|state=expanded}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novel 1971–1980}}
{{Locus Award Best Novel}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novel 1965-1980}}
{{Feminist science fiction}}
{{Portal bar|Anarchism|Novels|LGBTQ|Speculative fiction}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dispossessed, The}}
[[Category:1974 American novels]]
[[Category:Anarchist fiction]]
[[Category:Hainish Cycle]]
[[Category:Hugo Award for Best Novel–winning works]]
[[Category:1974 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Social science fiction]]
[[Category:Nebula Award for Best Novel–winning works]]
[[Category:Utopian novels]]
[[Category:Anarcho-communism]]
[[Category:Pastoral science fiction]]
[[Category:Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin]]
[[Category:Novels set on fictional planets]]
[[Category:Harper & Row books]]
[[Category:Fiction set around Tau Ceti]]
[[Category:Books about anarchism]]
[[Category:Solarpunk works]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of physicists]]
[[Category:Works about exile]]
[[Category:Locus Award–winning works]]