La Réunion (Dallas)

La Réunion was a utopian socialist community formed in 1855 by primarily French, Belgian, and Swiss colonists on the south bank of the Trinity River in central Dallas County, Texas (US). The colony site is a short distance north of Interstate 30 near downtown Dallas. The founder of the community, Victor Prosper Considerant, was a French democratic socialist who directed an international movement based on Fourierism, a set of economic, political, and social beliefs advocated by French philosopher François Marie Charles Fourier. Fourierism subsequently became known as a form of utopian socialism.

Initially, plans for the colony were loosely structured by design as it was Considerant's intent to make it a "communal experiment administered by a system of direct democracy." The crux of the plan was to allow participants to share in profits derived from capital investments and the amount and quality of labor performed. La Réunion existed for only eighteen months with its demise attributable to financial insolvency, a shortage of skilled participants, inclement weather, inability to succeed at farming, and rising costs. Contemporary research indicates that founder and executive director Victor Prosper Considerant was primarily responsible for the failure. Convinced the colony was doomed before arriving, Considerant actively worked against the settlement and economic development of La Reunion, hoping instead to establish a new colony in Uvalde County.