The Ends Of Utopian Thinking In Critical Theory

The book offers a critical account of how utopian thinking became defeated as a tool of philosophy whose explicit objective has been to not only analyse but emancipate the world. While such philosophy was originally inseparable from ideas of a radically better society it aimed to realise, many of its most influential practitioners today object to the use of utopian ideas. Countering this scepticism, the book argues in favour of utopian thinking. By elucidating a concept of utopia freed of its alleged pitfalls, the book contends that utopian thinking indeed presents an important resource for achieving emancipatory social goals.

A pathbreaking exploration of the fate of utopia in our troubled times, this book shows how the historically intertwined endeavors of utopia and critique might be leveraged in response to humanity's looming existential challenges. Utopia in the Age of Survival makes the case that critical social theory needs to reinstate utopia as a speculative myth. At the same time the left must reassume utopia as an action-guiding hypothesis—that is, as something still possible. S. D. Chrostowska looks to the vibrant, visionary mid-century resurgence of embodied utopian longings and projections in Surrealism, the Situationist International, and critical theorists writing in their wake, reconstructing utopia's link to survival through to the earliest, most radical phase of the French environmental movement. Survival emerges as the organizing concept for a variety of democratic political forms that center the corporeality of desire in social movements contesting the expanding management of life by state institutions across the globe. Vigilant and timely, balancing fine-tuned analysis with broad historical overview to map the utopian impulse across contemporary cultural and political life, Chrostowska issues an urgent report on the vitality of utopia.

Distinguished scholars--Jurgen Habermas, Claus Offe, Douglas Kellner, and Martin Jay, among others--draw upon historical, theoretical, and biographical information to assess Marcuse's philosophy, from its grounding in classical German idealism, through the break with Heidegger, to his role in the American counterculture of the sixties and seventies. Indispensable for anyone interested in an in-depth understanding of one of the most burning issues of our time: the relation of critical theory to social action.

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Osnabrück, language: English, abstract: This paper will argue that in "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler creates utopian hope by realistically building a dystopian vision which immanently criticises the present. For reasons of brevity, this will be elucidated mainly using the example of capitalism. While an abundance of other issues taken up by the novel, like climate change, democracy, racism or violence, would certainly serve as productive foci of analysis as well, capitalism will be the centre of attention because it is at the core of the apocalyptic circumstances portrayed in the novel. It also constitutes an intersection with most of the other issues named above, making capitalism a suitable starting point. Firstly, a short overview will be given on contemporary interpretations of the state of utopia, pointing out capitalism as a main factor in the changing of utopianism. Among others, Krishan Kumar’s “The Ends of Utopia”, Jerry Phillips’s “Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower” and Darko Suvin’s Metamorphoses of Science Fiction will be consulted. Realism, cognition, and estrangement will be pointed out as main tools of offering immanent critique and, in extension, utopian hope. Secondly, the production of immanent critique in Parable of the Sower will be analysed with the help of Mathias Nilges’s paper on “The Realism of Speculation”. Mike Davis’s City of Quartz will serve to illustrate the realism in Butler’s vision of future Los Angeles. The second example will examine the company town Olivar. Briefly consulting Rottinghaus’, Pluretti’s and Sutko’s discursive paper “The End of Material Scarcity”, the effectiveness of this immanent critique will be discussed. Lastly, this paper will seek to show how immanent critique allows for the creation of utopian hope, pointing towards the transformative value of utopian literature presented in Carl Freedman’s Critical Theory and Science Fiction. This paper will, because of its limited length, not be able to further investigate critiques of capitalism in any other context than that of Butler’s novel. Also, it will not be analysing the portrayal of capitalism as essentially nostalgic and conservative, making it the opposite of the utopian vision of adaptation and progress that it is contrasted with. This paper will not delve deeper into other interesting aspects of the generation of utopian hope, like narration

In the light of globalization's failure provide the universal panacea expected by some of its more enthusiastic proponents, and the current status of neo-liberalism in Europe, a search has begun for alternative visions of the future; alternatives to the free market and to rampant capitalism. Indeed, although these alternatives may not be conceived of in terms of being a 'perfect order', there does appear to be a trend towards 'utopian thinking', as people - including scholars and intellectuals - search for inspiration and visions of better futures. If, as this search continues, it transpires that politics has little to offer, then what might social theory have to contribute to the imagination of these futures? Does social theory matter at all? What resources can it offer this project of rethinking the future? Without being tied to any single political platform, Utopia: Social Theory and the Future explores some of these questions, offering a timely and sustained attempt to make social theory relevant through explorations of its resources and possibilities for utopian imaginations. It is often claimed that utopian thought has no legitimate place whatsoever in sociological thinking, yet utopianism has remained part and parcel of social theory for centuries. As such, in addition to considering the role of social theory in the imagination of alternative futures, this volume reflects on how social theory may assist us in understanding and appreciating utopia or utopianism as a special topic of interest, a special subject matter, a special analytical focus or a special normative dimension of sociological thinking. Bringing together the latest work from a leading team of social theorists, this volume will be of interest to sociologists, social and political theorists, anthropologists and philosophers.

A Critical Theory of Creativity argues that a Utopian drive is aesthetically encoded within the language of form. But coupled with this opportunity comes a very human obligation which cannot be delegated to God, to nature or to market forces. As Ernst Bloch declared: 'Life has been put into our hands.'

This book contains 15 essays which are the result of the 7th International Conference of Utopian Studies held in Spain in 2006, either debating the subject, or suggesting alternative readings to some of the theoretical ideas raised within utopian studies.

2012 was a year of financial crises and ecological disasters, of endings and forebodings. The world did not end on December 21st as the Mayan calendar predicted, but became the stage for new beginnings, utopian communities, protest groups and solidarity movements. The essays in this book form an intertextual space for negotiating meaningful facts and fictions with an aim to understanding the present. Discussions focus on utopia and dystopia from literature and film, not only within the framework of science fiction but also critical theory, gender politics and social sciences. The authors of these essays are international academics whose interest lies in utopian studies and who attended the 13th International Conference of Utopian Studies, “The Shape of Things to Come”, held in Tarragona, Spain, in 2012.