Becoming Utopian The Culture and Politics of Radical Transformation$dTom Moylan, Ruth Levitas and Phillip E. Wegner (eds.)

The chapters in the second half of Becoming Utopian reflect Moylan's own ongoing preoccupation with utopian method. What does this mean? How can we use it, if our project is to transform the world, and, in these dark times to prevent what Bloch called "devastatingly, possible fascist Nothing"? In these chapters, there is the constant reprise of the political necessity of utopia alongside the question of what is to be done? There is also a return to questions of the formation of the subject that were to the fore in some of the chapters earlier in the book that focus on Ernst Bloch, on Jűrgen Moltmann, and on Gustavo Gutiérrez and liberation theology. These questions do not sit easily in academia, where the tension with political activism is always something that must be negotiated. However, the question of how to be in the world presses more heavily, perhaps, not just because of the darkness of the times, but because of our age. I went to see Moylan in 2011 when I was wrestling with related questions of ontology and the quest for utopia. We both found ourselves returning to themes and writers from our early careers, unwittingly obeying Richard Buckminster Fuller's exhortation to go back to what we were thinking about before we were interrupted by the need to earn a living. Tom Moylan, however, has never stopped wrestling with the politics of utopia, either as text or as project. The chapters in this book, taken with the other published writings, do much to make sense of his intellectual biography. They also show a subtle mind at work, coupled with an indefatigable commitment to using utopianism to make the world a better place. Ruth Levitas Bristol, 2019 I will always begin by recognizing and thanking my students (at the Preface, Vincent Geoghegan (Queens University, Belfast, UK) -- Introduction: Becoming Utopian -- 1. Strong Thought in Hard Times: Utopia, Pedagogy, Agency -- 2. Bloch Against Bloch: The Theological Reception of Das Prinzip Hoffnung and the Liberation of the Utopian Function -- 3. Denunciation/Annunciation: The Utopian Methodology of Liberation Theology -- 4. Look Into the Dark: On Dystopia and the Novum -- 5. Making the Present Impossible: On the Vocation of Utopian Science Fiction -- 6. N-H-N: Kim Stanley Robinson's Dialectics of Ecology -- 7. "To Live Consciously is to Sow the Whirlwind": Reflecions on the Utopian Standpoint of Nonviolence -- 8. Steps of Renewed Praxis: Tracking the Utopian Method -- 9. Still Demanding the Impossible: '68 and the Critical Utopian Imagination -- Afterword, Philip E. Wegner (University of Florida, USA) -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index "A dream of a better world is a powerful human force that inspires political activists and science fiction writers alike. In this book Tom Moylan - one of the pioneering scholars of contemporary utopian studies - explores the theory, the practice and the urgency of the utopian impulse. From the theoretical writings of Frederic Jameson, Donna Haraway and Alain Badiou to science fiction works by Kim Stanley Robinson and China Mieville, from Latin American liberation theology to ecological activism and the radical movements of 1968, Becoming Utopian explores the many manifestations of utopian thought. Along the way, Moylan reveals the ways in which humans can confront and transform the global environmental, economic, political and cultural crises that beset us today"-- Provided by publisher "A dream of a better world is a powerful human force that inspires political activists and science fiction writers alike. In this book Tom Moylan - one of the pioneering scholars of contemporary utopian studies - explores the theory, the practice and the urgency of the utopian impulse. From the theoretical writings of Frederic Jameson, Donna Haraway and Alain Badiou to science fiction works by Kim Stanley Robinson and China Mieville, from Latin American liberation theology to ecological activism and the radical movements of 1968, Hunger and Hope explores the many manifestations of utopian thought. Along the way, Moylan reveals the ways in which humans can confront and transform the global environmental, economic, political and cultural crises that beset us today"-- Provided by publisher A dream of a better world is a powerful human force that inspires activists, artists, and citizens alike. In this book Tom Moylan – one of the pioneering scholars of contemporary utopian studies – explores the utopian process in its individual and collective trajectory from dream to realization. Drawing on theorists such as Fredric Jameson, Donna Haraway and Alain Badiou and science fiction writers such as Kim Stanley Robinson and China Miéville, Becoming Utopian develops its argument for sociopolitical action through studies that range from liberation theology, ecological activism, and radical pedagogy to the radical movements of 1968. Throughout, Moylan speaks to the urgent need to confront and transform the global environmental, economic, political and cultural crises of our time. A dream of a better world is a powerful human force that inspires activists, artists, and citizens alike. In this book Tom Moylan - one of the pioneering scholars of contemporary utopian studies - explores the utopian process in its individual and collective trajectory from dream to realization. Drawing on theorists such as Fredric Jameson, Donna Haraway and Alain Badiou and science fiction writers such as Kim Stanley Robinson and China Mieville, Becoming Utopian develops its argument for sociopolitical action through studies that range from liberation theology, ecological activism, and radical pedagogy to the radical movements of 1968. Throughout, Moylan speaks to the urgent need to confront and transform the global environmental, economic, political and cultural crises of our time Cover 1 Contents 6 Foreword Ruth Levitas 7 Acknowledgments 10 Permissions 12 Introduction: Becoming Utopian 14 1 Strong Thought: Utopia, Pedagogy, Agency 36 2 Bloch Against Bloch: Liberating Utopia 56 3 Denunciation/Annunciation: Utopian Method 82 4 Look into the Dark: Dystopia and the Novum 98 5 On the Vocation of Utopian Science Fiction 118 6 N-H-N’: Robinson’s Dialectics of Ecology 142 7 On the Utopian Standpoint of Nonviolence 178 8 Next Steps: Tracking the Utopian Method 194 Coda: ’68 and the Critical Utopian Imagination 218 Afterword: For Those Who Come Before Phillip E. Wegner 241 Appendix: Susan Browne, “Report to an Academy” 249 Notes 258 References 284 Index 301