The concept of utopia

Parameters of a national biography

“…That visions of the future are also embedded in a spatial imaginary is already implied in the terminology of utopia, a wordplay designating a place that is both good and nowhere (Vieira, 2010). Correspondingly, the spatial component has always been part of utopian thinking, from Plato envisioning his models of social order in cities and More describing an island similar to the size of the British Isles, to the liberated spaces envisioned by anti-colonial movements or advocates of a united Europe.…”

Bleak dreams, not nightmares

“…In everyday language we often speak of the utopia as a vision for an ideal, or even perfect world—the proverbial castle in the sky that is very hard to build in reality. The word utopia contains a deliberate pun, for phonetically it can mean both no‐place (ou‐topia) and good place (eu‐topia) (Abensour, ; Vieira, ). Thomas More, the originator of the literary genre of utopian writing, creatively exploited this dual meaning when he baptized the island that Raphael Hythloday visits Utopia (More, ).…”

Reclaiming the Vision Thing: Constructivists as Students of the Future1

“…Thus, dystopias are threat images which are not absolute in their depiction of what can happen. As Fatima Vieira points out, “dystopias that leave no room for hope … fail in their mission.” This reminds that dystopias also are possibilities, which makes them distinct from apocalyptic scenarios which confront us with the horror of the assured end of our world and humanity with(in) it (Vieira 2010:17). Famous dystopias used by policymakers during the Cold War were scenarios of a communist/capitalist invasion and of nuclear winter, which have since been replaced by scenarios of global pandemics or natural disasters.…”

“…Moore’s term combines the two Greek words outopia (no‐place) and eutopia (good‐place), highlighting the imaginary yet desirable character of this place. For an excellent discussion of the concept, see Vieira (2010).…”