What is Utopia?
What purpose has Utopia served for humanity through the centuries?
What purpose does it serve for contemporary societies of the 21st century?
How does Utopia reflect and augment the goals of human progress?
How will the ideas of Utopianism affect our futures?
Utopianism has surfaced throughout history in a
variety of forms as it shapes itself to suit the needs of socio-political
climates. A survey of these historical periods in Utopianism will examine the
origins of the Utopian impulse in theory as well as in practice. This
examination will ultimately lead to an exploration of the modern Utopian
impulse, which—due to advances in technology, shifts in intellectual
production, and a uniquely 21st century socio-political reality--differs significantly in context and form from the works in
its lineage.
To explore the concepts of Utopian theory, both academic and social, one must first engender a concrete definition of what Utopia means. Sir Thomas More, the original creator of the term Utopia, signifies it as “no place.” However, More’s clever play on words seems ultimately to suggest that”no place” is just no place right now. That is to say, that Utopia is “an ideal place that does not exist in reality” yet (Murfin and Ray 529).
The theoretical and literary genres of Utopianism that came in the wake of More’s Utopia, seek to promote a “vision of ‘the good life,’” as Barbara Goodwin and Keith Taylor explain in their collaborative work, The Politics of Utopia. This “good life” is often a vision that “transcends normal idealism” and “is inevitably at variance with the imperfections of existing society” (Goodwin and Taylor 4). Consequently, Utopianism cannot be defined as a single type of work or theory, but as a collection of critiques of “social-political reality” (Goodwin and Taylor 5) as well as prescriptions, social and political, for the attainment of a better place.
To explore the concepts of Utopian theory, both academic and social, one must first engender a concrete definition of what Utopia means. Sir Thomas More, the original creator of the term Utopia, signifies it as “no place.” However, More’s clever play on words seems ultimately to suggest that”no place” is just no place right now. That is to say, that Utopia is “an ideal place that does not exist in reality” yet (Murfin and Ray 529).
The theoretical and literary genres of Utopianism that came in the wake of More’s Utopia, seek to promote a “vision of ‘the good life,’” as Barbara Goodwin and Keith Taylor explain in their collaborative work, The Politics of Utopia. This “good life” is often a vision that “transcends normal idealism” and “is inevitably at variance with the imperfections of existing society” (Goodwin and Taylor 4). Consequently, Utopianism cannot be defined as a single type of work or theory, but as a collection of critiques of “social-political reality” (Goodwin and Taylor 5) as well as prescriptions, social and political, for the attainment of a better place.
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