Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies

Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies PDF Author: John Storey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351782436
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
In Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies, John Storey looks at the concept of utopianism from a cultural studies perspective and argues that radical utopianism can awaken the political promise of cultural studies. Between the Preface and the Postscript, there are seven chapters that explore different aspects of radical utopianism. The book begins with a definition of what radical utopianism means, with its productive combination of defamiliarization and desire. From there, it considers Thomas More’s invention of the concept of utopia with its double articulation of what is and what could be, Herbert Marcuse’s utopian rereading of Sigmund Freud’s concept of repression, Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers, the Paris Commune, and the Haight-Ashbury counterculture. In the final chapter, Storey examines two versions of utopian capitalism: retro and post. Although the main focus here is on Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign and Paul Mason’s recent bestseller Postcapitalism, the chaper begins with a brief discussion of Karl Marx on capitalism. Each chapter, in a different way, argues that radical utopianism defamiliarizes the manufactured naturalness of the here and now, making it conceivable to believe that another world is possible. This book provides an ideal introduction to utopianism for students of cultural studies as well as students within a number of related disciplines such as sociology, literature, history, politics, and media studies.

Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies

Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies PDF Author: John Storey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351782436
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Radical Utopianism and Cultural Studies, John Storey looks at the concept of utopianism from a cultural studies perspective and argues that radical utopianism can awaken the political promise of cultural studies. Between the Preface and the Postscript, there are seven chapters that explore different aspects of radical utopianism. The book begins with a definition of what radical utopianism means, with its productive combination of defamiliarization and desire. From there, it considers Thomas More’s invention of the concept of utopia with its double articulation of what is and what could be, Herbert Marcuse’s utopian rereading of Sigmund Freud’s concept of repression, Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers, the Paris Commune, and the Haight-Ashbury counterculture. In the final chapter, Storey examines two versions of utopian capitalism: retro and post. Although the main focus here is on Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign and Paul Mason’s recent bestseller Postcapitalism, the chaper begins with a brief discussion of Karl Marx on capitalism. Each chapter, in a different way, argues that radical utopianism defamiliarizes the manufactured naturalness of the here and now, making it conceivable to believe that another world is possible. This book provides an ideal introduction to utopianism for students of cultural studies as well as students within a number of related disciplines such as sociology, literature, history, politics, and media studies.

Advances in Utopian Studies and Sacred Architecture

Advances in Utopian Studies and Sacred Architecture PDF Author: Claudio Gambardella
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030507653
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
At a time dominated by the disappearance of Future, as claimed by the French anthropologist Marc Augé, Utopia and Religion seem to be two different ways of giving back an inner horizon to mankind. Therefore this book, on the one hand, considers the importance of utopia as a tool and how it offers an economic and social resource to improve cities’ wealth, future and livability. On the other, it explores the impact of religious and cultural ideals on cities that have recently emerged in this context. Based on numerous observations, the book examines the intellectual legacy of utopian theory and practices across various academic disciplines. It also presents discussions, theories, and case studies addressing a range of issues and topics related to utopia.

Utopian Horizons

Utopian Horizons PDF Author: Zsolt Cziganyik
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9633862434
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
The 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s Utopia has directed attention toward the importance of utopianism. This book investigates the possibilities of cooperation between the humanities and the social sciences in the analysis of 20th century and contemporary utopian phenomena. The papers deal with major problems of interpreting utopias, the relationship of utopia and ideology, and the highly problematic issue as to whether utopia necessarily leads to dystopia. Besides reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary utopian investigations, the eleven essays effectively represent the constructive attitudes of utopian thought, a feature that not only defines late 20th- and 21st-century utopianism, but is one of the primary reasons behind the rising importance of the topic. The volume’s originality and value lies not only in the innovative theoretical approaches proposed, but also in the practical application of the concept of utopia to a variety of phenomena which have been neglected in the utopian studies paradigm, especially to the rarely discussed Central European texts and ideologies.

Utopias in Nonfiction Film

Utopias in Nonfiction Film PDF Author: Simon Spiegel
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030798232
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
'Comprehensive and thorough, Utopias in Nonfiction Film takes a new direction in its surprise application to documentary that has the potential to shake up the field.'- Jane Gaines, Columbia University, USA 'Spiegel has introduced a new sub-genre to utopian studies, the documentary film. The book covers an impressive range of films, making the book one of the few truly international and comparative works in utopian studies.'- Lyman Tower Sargent, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA "Simon Spiegel’s magisterial overview of utopian documentaries and nonfiction films is a treasure trove of information and unearths many forgotten and half-forgotten films, providing perceptive discussions of sidelined movies that deserve his (and our) critical scrutiny.“ - Eckart Voigts, University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology, Germany This book is the first major study on utopias in nonfiction film. Since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia more than 500 years ago, countless books have been written which describe a better world. But in film, positive utopias seem to be nonexistent. So far, research has focused almost exclusively on dystopias, since positive outlooks seem to run contrary to the media’s requirement. Utopias in Nonfiction Film takes a new approach; starting from the insight that literary utopias are first and foremost meant as a reaction to the ills of the present and not as entertaining stories, it looks at documentary and propaganda films, an area which so far has been completely ignored by research. Combining insights from documentary research and utopian studies, a vast and very diverse corpus of films is analysed. Among them are Zionist propaganda films, cinematic city utopias, socialist films of the future as well as web videos produced by the Islamist terrorist group ISIS.

Utopianism and Marxism

Utopianism and Marxism PDF Author: Vincent Geoghegan
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9783039101375
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
The grounding assumption of this book is that an element of utopianism is a necessity in any political thinking, and that a self-conscious utopianism can generate a richer level of theory and practice. The text then follows the chequered career of utopianism in the Marxist tradition.

Consuming Utopia

Consuming Utopia PDF Author: John Storey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000435202
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Consuming Utopia builds on critical insights into consumption and utopianism developed in two previous books by the author to elaborate what it means to read utopian fiction (including dystopian and anti-utopian) from the critical perspective of cultural studies. With a critical focus on social practices of reading rather than on the text itself, John Storey advances a timely and relevant contribution to existing debates on utopian fiction, offering new insights into how we might understand the politics of utopian fiction. Finding readership and readers indispensable to the act of producing politics beyond the text, Storey argues that if utopian fiction has a ‘politics’, it is determined by those who, in actuality, pick up books and act on what they read, rather than readers proposed by textuality. By engaging with seminal concepts in cultural studies, this book shows how reading utopian fiction works to make the meaning of such texts material and social, and therefore available for politics. An essential addition to the literature on utopian fiction, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students in the areas of cultural studies, literary studies, comparative literature, cultural politics, utopian studies, and political theory.

Utopian Studies

Utopian Studies PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Utopias
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description


Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction

Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Lyman Tower Sargent
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199573409
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
One of the leading scholars in the field of utopian studies examines utopianism and its history.-publisher description.

Trans/Forming Utopia

Trans/Forming Utopia PDF Author: Elizabeth Russell
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9783039113484
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Is the utopian project dead? Is it possible to imagine a utopian society or a utopian world in the aftermath of the collapse of ideologies? This book contains eighteen 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. This volume focuses on the importance of narratives in utopian literature. They define the world we live in and the world we wish to live in. Through narratives of confession, and indeed through silence itself, the unconscious emerges and desire is articulated. The articles in this volume question and challenge the power of the word, the stability of meaning, and the relationship between thought and action in the construction of utopia and dystopia. They also point to the various literary frameworks of utopian and dystopian narratives, thus connecting stories from the past, present and future of both real and imaginary and communities.

Utopia Method Vision

Utopia Method Vision PDF Author: Tom Moylan
Publisher: Peter Lang
ISBN: 9783039109128
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
This collection addresses the ways in which the contributors approach their study of the objects and practices of utopianism (understood as social anticipations and visions produced through texts and social experiments) and of how, in turn, those objects and practices have shaped their intellectual work and research perspectives.