Movement as utopia

Opposition to utopianism on ontological and political grounds has seemingly relegated it to a potentially dangerous form of antiquated idealism. This conclusion is based on a restrictive view of utopia as excessively ordered panoptic discursive constructions. This overlooks the fact that, from its i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History of the human sciences 2009-10, Vol.22 (4), p.93-121
Main Authors: Couton, Philippe, López, José Julián
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Borders
Cosmopolitanism
Cultural Characteristics
Cultural Diversity
Emigrants and Immigrants - education
Emigrants and Immigrants - history
Emigrants and Immigrants - legislation & jurisprudence
Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology
Geographic Mobility
History of medicine
History, 20th Century
Identity formation
Internationality - history
Internationality - legislation & jurisprudence
Migration
Modern society
Ontology
Philosophy
Political Systems - history
Population Dynamics
Religion - history
Social change
Social Change - history
Social Mobility - economics
Social Mobility - history
Transients and Migrants - education
Transients and Migrants - history
Transients and Migrants - legislation & jurisprudence
Transients and Migrants - psychology
Transnationalism
Utopianism
Utopias
Utopias - history
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Summary:Opposition to utopianism on ontological and political grounds has seemingly relegated it to a potentially dangerous form of antiquated idealism. This conclusion is based on a restrictive view of utopia as excessively ordered panoptic discursive constructions. This overlooks the fact that, from its inception, movement has been central to the utopian tradition. The power of utopianism indeed resides in its ability to instantiate the tension between movement and place that has marked social transformations in the modern era. This tension continues in contemporary discussions of movement-based social processes, particularly international migration and related identity formations, such as open borders transnationalism and cosmopolitanism. Understood as such, utopia remains an ongoing and powerful, albeit problematic instrument of social and political imagination.
ISSN:0952-6951
1461-720X
DOI:10.1177/0952695109337694