The Revival of Political Imagination: Utopia as Methodology

Description

Our Politics & International Relations publishing features books from the I.B. Tauris, Zed Books, Red Globe Press and Bloomsbury Academic imprints. The list engages with global issues covering political theory, international and diplomatic history, security studies, conflict resolution, government policy and radical politics. Titles address an array of current debates and area focuses – from China to the Arctic, and from Africa to Latin America - with focuses on gender, race and minority voices. We publish a wide variety of scholarly works by established specialists and cutting-edge books for everyone who is passionate and curious about current affairs. Front Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Contents Notes on Contributors Acknowledgments PART I: DIAGNOSIS 1: Introduction: Utopias and the Revival of Imagination The Specificity of Absolutist Utopias Towards a Methodological Understanding of Utopianism Utopianism Facilitating Transformation The Purpose of This Book and the Content of the Chapters Notes References 2: Disruptive Utopianism: Opening the Present Utopia as Critical Counter-Image of the Present Dynamic Utopias Utopian Counter-Practice: the Crack Cracks in Walls: Interstitial Strategy Conclusion References 3: The Privatization and Recollectivization of Hope The State of Utopias: Anxiety Mechanisms of the Privatization of Utopias: the Subjectification, Ethos and Life-Narrative of Entrepreneurship Mechanisms of the Privatization of Utopias: Retrotopia and Neoliberalism The Role of a Social Scientist Conclusions References PART II: CASE STUDIES AND UTOPIAN METHODOLOGIES 4: Quilombist Utopias: An Ethnographic Reflection Runaway Slaves or Diversified Local Economies? The Method of Hope and Quilombist Knowledge Kilombo Tenondé: Capoeira Angola with Permaculture Anarchist and Afrocentric Currents in Quilombo Cecília Quilombist Hopes Notes References 5: Social Dreaming and Uses of Narrativity, Tellability and Experientiality in Literary Dystopia Literary Dystopia as a Contemporary Form of Utopian Thinking The Handmaid’s Tale: ‘A Canary in the Coal Mine’? ‘What I Need Is a Perspective’: Dystopia against the Normal and Everyday Writing and Reading Literary Dystopia as an ‘Act of Hope’ Conclusions Note References 6: Utopian Education: May the Hope Be with You Forward Dawning From Utopian Pedagogy Came Forward Movement From Despair to Hope: Utopian Education in Practice Dynamic Connection of Hope and Despair References PART III: PERSPECTIVES ON UTOPIAS 7: The Significance of Humor and Laughter for
Utopian Thought Laughing at Utopia Laughing with Utopia Laughing in Utopia Endgame Notes References 8: Architectural Utopias as Methods for Experimenting
with the (Im)Possible Modernist Architecture as a Degenerate Utopia? Utopia Turned Ideology From Abstract Utopianism to Experimental Utopias Architectural Utopias as Methods for Experimenting with the (Im)Possible Notes References 9: Democracy as Utopia: On Locating Radical Roots Limited Utopian Concepts Utopian Democracy Hegemonic Democracy as a Hybrid Form Limitations to Democratic Politics The Implications of Liberalism Open Future and the Significance of Imagination Saving the Utopian Potential of Concepts and Ways Forward Conclusions Notes References Index