What am I talking about when I talk about utopias
In short, utopias are aspirational and iterative processes that help us develop transformative actions.
Mckenna 1 calls them ends-in-view, as opposed to traditional definitions of a singular utopiA characterized as a definitive, rigid, homogeneous and perfect objective. This reappropriation of the concept of utopia comes from feminist utopianism 2. This current takes the concept of utopia and takes it from an ideal to a process or activity. In this context, utopias are plural, open-ended, democratic, participatory, emergent, diverse and contingent. These utopias are guided by philosophical systems in constant evolution, not by fixed dogmas. Moreover, they stem from a critique of the present in search to actionable opportunities2,3.
Therefore, utopias do not pretend to be achieved because they are more of a process or method3 than a static image. Utopias as a method or process serve to:
- Create or identify the explicit details of our aspirations
- Analyze, critique, and experiment with them
Thus, utopias are detonators of iterative virtuous projects. Projects that are genuinely rooted in the collective desire to live and inhabit the world in a better way.
They are called utopias because they seek to challenge the limits of what we consider possible. To break with the inertia and limitations of the so-called realism. That cynical intellectual realism that justifies its inaction by mocking those who try and act against the status quo and systems of oppression. This attitude has not led us to where we want to go. Hence, utopias must be bold and ambitious. Loose ends and gaps are important because they are clues. Sometimes one has to first define the ‘whats’ and then figure out the ‘hows’. Given the current situation of the world, we must radically imagine and reimagine our reality, our life, our systems of organization and our communities.
Utopias in plural because our aspirations are complex, multidimensional and changing. Even when it comes to individual aspirations, a single vision would not have enough room for multiple versions of ourselves. Multiple utopias are necessary for the pluriverse of realities.
To sum up, utopias are iterative processes of imagination. They are tools to practice better ways of living, to remember that we are nature and as such we must take care for each other. Utopias are ethical practices, quests for virtue. They are generative, expansive and they are not afraid to be flawed nor afraid of trying. Utopias are comfortable with change, with becoming what is needed. Utopias are guides for a project that has no end. Just as life, as people, utopias are always works in progress.
There are glimpses of utopias everywhere. The task is to be attentive, to bring them forward, to build them up and to experiment with them. That's what this space is for. This is one of those utopias. I'm glad you're here to share it.
References:
McKenna, E. The Task of Utopia: A Pragmatist and Feminist Perspective. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).↩
Bardzell, S. Utopias of Participation: Feminism, Design, and the Futures. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 25, 6:1-6:24 (2018).↩
Levitas, R. Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society - The Library Search. (BASINGSTOKE: Springer Nature, 2013).↩