Conclusion

Abstract

Utopianism is both an attitude and a method. In Chapter 1 I located criticism and creativity at its heart. These factors combine to form a vibrant, exciting and potentially dangerous phenomenon that is very much alive in the twenty-first century. A critical attitude drives Utopian engagement with contemporary debates and articulation of dissatisfaction with the present. These things are linked; engagement with debates (and conflicts) informs (and shapes) Utopian criticisms of the now. And these things are fluid; Utopias do not only reflect and rehearse debates, they also contribute to them. Often, as we have seen, these are old (perennial) debates and sometimes they are new ones. And sometimes, as suggested by Tom Moylan, Utopian texts are self-critical and perform an internal critique, seeking to challenge and change the movement from which they stem (feminism, environmentalism) as well as the wider society (Moylan, 1986, 2000).

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

(Shakespeare, As You Like It Act V Scene I)