Taking to the Sea: The Modern Seasteading Movement in the Context of Other Historical Intentional Communities

Though its mission may seem to belong to the realm of science fiction—establishing self-sufficient, floating cities on the high seas—the modern seasteading movement is simply the next iteration of mankind’s long quest to establish more perfect societies. If they wish to accomplish their goals, seasteaders must be prepared to confront and overcome serious obstacles on technological, social, and legal fronts. Reviewing other historical examples of intentional communities offers a glimpse of the potential challenges that are common across all such movements and suggests that, to ensure long-term success, seasteaders may benefit long-term from pursuing international recognition of sovereignty for their eventual communities.