How did Robert Owen imagine separate cooperative communities joining into a wider society?

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Robert Owen envisioned a global transformation of society through the establishment of self-contained, agricultural communities of 500 to 3,000 people, which he called villages of "unity and cooperation."1

He believed that these individual units would serve as the building blocks for a broader social order. As the number of these communities grew, Owen proposed that they be "federatively united" in expanding circles of tens, hundreds, and thousands. By linking these communities together through this federal structure, he aimed to eventually embrace the entire world in a "common interest," effectively reorganizing society through the collective sharing of work and its results.1

This vision was rooted in his belief that human character is shaped by environmental circumstances and that united action—rather than competition—was the only remedy for social distress. His ideas ultimately established him as a significant forerunner of socialism and the cooperative movement.1