Should we be utopian?
Details
Many of the most influential political projects: that is, they've aimed at creating an ideal society, and have had a definite idea of what that society might look like. Some people believe utopianism is now disreputable, and lead inevitably to the totalitarian horrors of the last century. Others wonder how we will ever radically change society if we don't have a goal in mind.
Join us for a critical discussion about the idea of utopias and their relevance to modern political thought and action.
Preliminary Reading
Passages from Karl Mannheim's Ideology and Utopia
Online: http://www.scribd.com... (http://www.scribd.com/doc/55433922/Karl-Mannheim-Ideology-and-Utopia-An-Introduction-to-the-Sociology-of-Knowledge-english-1954-OCR)
Physical: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideology-Utopia-Introduction-Sociology-Knowledge/dp/0156439557/
We'll be discussing the following sections only:
Chapter 2, 'Ideology and Utopia', sections 1 ('Definition of Concepts') and 9 ('The Problem of False Consciousness');
Chapter 4, 'The Utopian Mentality', section 1 ('Utopia, Ideology and the Problem of Reality').